You Could be the Reason
by Dragonchild
Summary: Sora made a mistake, a big one. Rule 1. don't sleep with you best friend, Rule 2. maybe crushing on your boss isn't the best idea. Yaoi CloudxSora RikuxSora Concluded
1. Chapter 1

You Could Be the Reason

Chapter One

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any of the characters, or a Winnebago…

* * *

Sora sighed and stretched his legs out in front of him. Summer was quickly approaching and he had just finished writing his final exam for his math class, they were all required to stay in the room until one hour had passed. As usual he had finished early; casually he looked around the room making sure that it didn't look like he was coping off someone else's paper. He looked to his right and saw Riku. He seemed to be having some problems, repetitively bringing his eraser to his paper. Kairi was on his left. She had her head down concentrating on her test. Of course now-a-days neither of the two mattered much to Sora, or perhaps it was the other way around.

A few months ago the two had officially become a couple; skyrocketing them to new heights of popularity. Sora never had a chance to catch up to them. Instead he was left behind, not that he didn't have any friends; both Wakka and Tidus were his good friends and he spent a great deal of time around the two. Plus he wasn't exactly unpopular; he just didn't seem to fit into Riku and Kairi's new group to friends, much to his dismay. He knew several people that went to his school and got along quite fine with most of them… but there always seemed to be one particular group, the one that had the best jocks, most successful students, prettiest girls, etc. The one high standing rank that once you made it into you were set for life. Or at the time that's how it felt.

Sora hid a slight smile when he noticed Tidus trying to lean over to get a better look at Wakka's paper. He always tried things like that he hardly ever got away with it. This time was not exception; Ms. Holloway's stern clearing of her throat and menacing look from the front of the room was more than enough to right Tidus in his seat. Sora could just picture the dark look on his face at this moment even though he couldn't see it from his vantage point. He knew Wakka must be nearly finished and after the first hour of the exam had passed the two of them would wait outside of Tidus's locker for the boy. Sora's attention had now slipped to the wall clock, hoping that his time in the room was nearly up. Only a few more minutes. He turned his attention to the front where Ms. Holloway was sitting.

She was a young woman; Sora knew that she was currently seeing someone, even though she didn't talk about him very much Sora had seen him once. He had picked her up one day after school. He had always liked Ms. Holloway and he hoped she'd get married one day and start a family. Sora thought back to the one day near the beginning to the school year, the day Riku had landed both of them in detention. It was shortly before he and Kairi had started going out. She had started a conversation with them about how much she wanted to start a family. Riku later had said that, that had been one of the most boring detentions that he had ever sat through; Sora one the other hand had enjoyed it. He found it interesting to looking into a teacher's life through a different perspective.

Ms. Holloway had stood up at the front, Sora grinned he knew what this meant. "Excuse me students but one hour has officially passed and if you have completed your exams you may bring them up to the front and exit the room." A handful of students stood up all of them trying there hardest to make little noise as possible; Sora was one of them along with Wakka. He and Wakka walked down the nearly empty school hallways discussing the exam, this was there only chance to do it they both knew that it would be the last thing Tidus would want to hear about. The boy had this unique view that as soon as something was done with he never wanted to look back at it. He always seemed to have trouble during review time at the beginning to the school year.

Wakka lead Sora to Tidus's locker and he opened the aluminum door effortlessly, having cracked Tidus's combination early in the year. Sora and Wakka discussed one question they both had trouble with as they sifted though the mess that was Tidus's locker. The both knew that they blonde boy always kept a stash of candy at the bottom. The problem was reaching the hallowed depth.

"Piece of cake." Wakka said as he removed a small green le kit from under a mound of paper. The le kit had been the same kit that Tidus had kept his Halloween candy in way back in the days of elementary school. That particular pencil box had a history. "Can't believe this things only got one more year left of hiding candy away from un-knowing eye's ya?" Wakka said.

"Are you kidding me?" Sora said laughing "Were do you think he's going to hid his stash when he starts working full time, or possible if he decides to go to college."

Wakka looked up at Sora with a mouthful of chocolate. "If he get's into college I'm sure that'll be a good sign of the world ending." Both boys keeled over laughing. Sora helped himself to a refresher, a British candy Tidus always made sure he had stock of.

"Hey Wakka?" Sora asked. "Are you sad that there's only one year left of highschool?" It was a question that had plagued Sora's mind ever since the week of final exams had started. "Just think this time next year we'll be getting ready for graduation."

"Ya, kinda a scary thing to think of." Wakka agreed.

They sat in silence for a while contemplating what that meant, to be graduating, to being thrown out in the real world, to flounder about as they find there destiny's integrated into the social system somehow of that was the society of Destiny islands. Tidus was the one to break the silence. "That's it lady's and gentlemen! One left and then we're off for two months of peace and relaxation!"

"So you survived the test I see." Sora said grinning at the blonde boy.

"Sure did… Hey! Who said you two could eat my sugar!" Tidus demanded.

Wakka put the le kit back into the locker and shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know what you're talking about ya."

Sora agreed. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Tidus fingered the two. "Hope you were planning on paying me back."

"Actually I think you still owe us for that last time we went to the movies." Sora corrected.

"Come on lets get outta here before they decide to lock us into the building." Wakka said as he hoisted himself up off the floor.

* * *

It was getting dark outside, Sora knew because he was looking out his bedroom window at the sky. He had been there ever since he got home, any thought of studying for his last exam had never even dared to cross his mind. He was too caught up in his own thoughts of the future. The summer was coming; he was used to sharing the warmest months on the island with Riku and Kairi. He wouldn't be able to do that this year, he was sure that they were going to be too busy with all their new friends. There would be no dreams of building a new raft or going on adventures. He guessed maybe they were all getting to old for that sort of thing anyway. Since both Wakka and Tidus were going to be away for most of the summer, off at some blitzball camp, he Sora was essentially going to be alone for most of the time. It was going to be a slow uneventful summer he could tell that already.

Wakka and Tidus had tried to convince him to come along on their camp but Sora hadn't been too keen on the idea then. He never was much for blitzball and plus everyone there were going to be pros at it. Not like him Sora always seemed to flounder in the sport. In fact the last time they had all played as a whole collective group he had been badly beaten by Selphie. And she never liked the game from the beginning. He could get a part time job, that way he could earn some extra cash at the same time. At least his mom would be pleased with that decision… maybe… His mother lately had been pushing him to get a relationship.

Sora's mother was an unusual person she always wanted her son's happiness and ever since Riku and Kairi had left him behind he wasn't all that happy anymore. She had been pushing him to "find someone special" as she put it. Sora guessed that she figured if he found himself a girlfriend he would magically be put up in the popular crowd alongside Riku and Kairi and they could all be friends again. Sora wished it worked like that. The issue with Riku and Kairi had been eating away at him for a long time now and was really starting to irk him. All he really wanted was to forget about it, forget about them. At one point of time he had been so desperate he wished he had never known them. Now he just wished they could end it, he wished he could have one final conversation with them, a final goodbye as he would like to call it. Unfortunately they didn't really seem too interested in the idea.

The last time Sora had tried to talk to them in the school hallway Riku had walked by him like he didn't even know who Sora was and Kairi had only a attempted a feeble wave in his general direction. He wasn't even sure if it had been directed at him.

Sora sat up and tore his eyes away from the now black sky. This was not the kind of thing he wanted to be thinking about. He went downstairs to find something to eat, his mother wasn't home. She was probably at work he thought as he passed the empty study. The study was usually were she could be found working at her small computer into the wee hours of the night. Sora entered the kitchen and made himself a sandwich, since it was getting late and there was no sign of his mom he went and got things ready for the night. It wasn't unusual for Sora's mother to not return home at night, quite often she would stay late at the office. It was hard for her to raise a child on her own and Sora understood that, he always had.

As soon as Sora was old enough to take care of himself at home, his mother had left him on his own. It was easier on both of them Sora's mother didn't have to drive him halfway across the island to the babysitter and Sora preferred it at home. He kind of liked the privacy of having the house all to himself, many nights when he was younger he had abused the privilege and decided to stay up late much later than even some of the spoiled children that had been his classmates were allowed to stay up. Back then it seemed like a big deal to him, of course the morning after wasn't such a great thing. He often looked back on it and called it his first hangover.

Absentmindedly Sora went about the house making sure that everything was in order for the next morning when his mother would be returning home. Just as he was about to turn out the kitchen light he remembered that he hadn't checked the mail box when he got home from school. He unlocked the front door and pulled the assorted pieces of mail out of the tin box. There were several pieces addressed to his mother, he looked at each one as he put them in her in box located on the corner of her desk in the study. The utility bills, something concerning Sora's father, his mother's pay stub. He pulled out all the junk mail and threw them on the kitchen table. The junk mail was something Sora thought of as his own. Since there was never anything addressed to him, he liked to think that the weekly flyers from the corner grocer or the envelopes from dating services were his. Sora was looking through each piece and noticed a simple piece of paper folded in half. Someone must have just slipped it into the mailbox it didn't look like an advertisement.

Sora opened the paper eager to see what it was; he was slightly disappointed when he saw that it was a resume. It wasn't that uncommon for people to drop that sort of thing off; his mother was in charge of sorting through possible applicants for the office she herself was employed at. Destiny Island's wasn't exactly the largest place in the world it was very easy to find the address for someone like his mother. Sora knew the system: the people who dropped things off in the mailbox lost points for not giving there applications in directly to his mother or leaving them at the office for her to look at when she was working there.

Sora looked over the resume, whoever this was didn't seem to have very much experience with computers. Sora guessed that they were young and had been job hopping. The list of previous employment was long and the dates between starting and ending at each job was only a couple months at the longest. Most likely there was no was this person was going to get a call for an interview. The more Sora looked at the resume the more he thought about his idea for working over the summer. He'd have his mom help him out with his own resume when she had some spare time. She'd know exactly was he was good at and what to put down.

Sora looked at the clock on the oven, it was just past nine. Far too early to go to bed he decided, so he dragged his text books over to the kitchen table and began studying for his next exam.

* * *

For the final time that year Sora found himself sitting in the school. He was there early helping Tidus cram for the test. Wakka hadn't shown up yet, but Sora was far form worried about the other boy they still had half an hour to go before the test would actually begin. There final exam was English Sora didn't have a single care about how the test would go because it was mostly reading comprehension and that was something he had never in his life had a problem with. Tidus on the other hand was starting to freak out a little. He was claiming that by the time he was done reading everything the test would be over. Sora kept trying to reassure him that there wouldn't actually be that much to read, that they would be in the form of short stories and possibly some excerpts from a Shakespeare play.

This didn't seem to calm Tidus down that much. "What do you mean Shakespeare! I can't even understand what those guys are saying! How am I going to answer questions on an excerpt?"

"Relax Tidus there not going to put on in that we haven't already studied. It'll probably be something easy like Romeo and Juliet or something like that." Sora said trying to give the blonde boy something rational to think about.

Still it didn't seem to work. "Romeo and Juliet! You think that's easy do you know what there saying? 'cause if you do tell me! What was Romeo and Juliet about again? Sora I can't remember any of this stuff how is anyone suppost to study this kind of thing!"

"First of all suppost isn't a word, and how can you not know what Romeo and Juliet is about it's the most famous love story in the world." Sora said. This was starting to get frustrating.

"…Sora since when did you start reading love stories…"

"…Since they put it on the reading criteria list. You're a moron you know that Tidus, why weren't you studying this stuff before hand?" Sora asked he was wishing Wakka was here now to relieve some of the stress. This was not what he needed right before a test.

Almost as if reading his mind it was then that Wakka decided to show up. "Sorry I'm late. Whoa! Sora you look fried ya! Go take a break and let me take over." Wakka proceeded to chase Sora out of the study hall. To say none the least Sora was grateful to leave.

Deciding that since there wasn't quite enough time to get something to eat for breakfast from the cafeteria Sora opted for the quicker less healthy choice, the vending machine. Choosing a nice greasy looking back of chips Sora felt gratified. He took his time getting to his locker, this was the last time he'd ever get to use it this year and if he were to clean it out now he wouldn't have to worry about it after the test, this way he would be able to help Tidus shift through the mess that he called organized. Sora grinned thinking about each time Tidus had ever said. "Don't mess with the mess I know were everything is" Of course it always took him forever to find anything in there but he always knew were it was.

There wasn't much in Sora's locker just some textbooks which he decided to return to the library and the pencils he had brought for the test. By the time he had returned to the study hall Wakka and Tidus was just beginning to pack things up and head out to the classroom where they were assigned to take the test. Wakka was talking about how it would be strange to write and English exam in a science room. Sora kind of agreed it would be strange they would have to sit at lab benches… He was starting to wonder how they would be able to take a test if they were all sitting side by side and across from each other. They were making it far too easy for Tidus to look off someone else's paper.

As soon as the walked into the room Sora understood how it would be done. Dividers had been set up on the benches large bright blue plastic sheets that would separate each and every person. It wasn't a very nice shade of blue Sora decided he would have like it if they were deeper maybe even a baby blue; he had always liked baby blue. The teacher, someone Sora had seen before but had never learned his name was watching over the exam. He instructed them all to take a seat when they came in, and at exactly five after nine he closed the door and told them all to start. Sora turned to his paper, the three bright blue walls he found very distracting. He kept looking up at them as he was trying to read his first short story. He kept loosing his spot and he felt as if the walls were beginning to close in on him.

Sora had never been Closter phobic but the three walls separating him from everyone else were too much, time wore on and Sora was slowly getting through his test. When he was just about to the second last reading piece he heard the teachers' gruff voice announcing that an hour had passed and that anyone who was done could leave. Sora scrunched his face up he was never still working on a test after the first hour. He stuck his bottom lip out into a pout and continued on trying his best to finish the test without looking up at the horrible blue walls.

The last reading was a Shakespeare piece it was an excerpt from Macbeth, easily Sora's favorite of the famous playwrights scripts. That final one went smoothly by and Sora found that the answers came to him easily enough. Gratefully Sora gathered his test and dropped it off at the front. He was so glad to be rid of the horrible blue walls.

He found Wakka already starting the cleaning of Tidus's locker. "What happened Ya? It's not like you to stay behind in a test room. Couldn't find the answers you were looking for?"

"Funny Wakka," Sora said his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Those bloody dividers they were so distracting."

"Ya, 'cause everyone knows just how distracting something that doesn't move can be." Wakka said, he thought he was funny Sora didn't think the same.

"The color you moron, it was such an awful shade of blue."

"Really you didn't like it I was considering painting my room that color wouldn't you just love that, ya? I know I would." Wakka was still thinking he was funny.

"Wakka you're a hilarious guy, you know that." Sora said as he picked up the last bit of garbage from the bottom of Tidus's locker. "You know after you get all the crap from out of there it doesn't look so bad."

Wakka nodded his agreement. "So what did you think of question seventeen. That one had me stumped for a bit, but as soon as I went back and re-read the passage it seemed to make sense."

"That one was easy enough… I think that was about the time that I noticed some one had shoved their pen through the divider there was a hole in it." Sora said putting an emphasis on how distracting he found the dividers.

"You know those things aren't that bad, they did their job. I don't think Tidus could look off a single person in that room." Wakka said defending the dividers. "And what do you know ya. Speak of the devil."

Tidus was just walking down the hallway toward them. He boomed out "Fear the Satan incarnate"

"You know Tidus some people are still trying to write their test's around here." Wakka said reprimanding Tidus for yelling out loud. Of course this started an argument. As soon as Tidus started in on Wakka for possibly throwing out something important Sora had decided he had, had enough of listening to those two.

Sora really didn't care if no one else found those dividers as horrible of an experience as he did. He realized now that this was it for school, they would get their marks mailed to them (one of the only things that ever came for Sora in the mail with his name) there would be no need to ever come back here until the next year of school, his last year. Summer was starting and when this boring summer was over with he be in his last year of high school. Not that he would miss the ever so exciting drama that was high school, or the piddliy little cat fights in the hallways, but there was something indescribable that he would miss with all of his heart. He didn't want this to be happening.

* * *

Sora looked over the resume his mother had helped him put together. He was impressed by her skill to make the smallest interest of his look like a useful skill. He had a few of them printed up and placed neatly in a folder. He wasn't quite sure where to start, the buildings around him all seemed intimidating, and it seemed that he never realized exactly how big the tiny Island actually was. There were stores all around him, restaurants, retail locations, office buildings. Very easily he could walk into anyone of these buildings and apply but suddenly he felt afraid. He crossed the street and stood in front of a retail building, it was a clothing store; he could see himself working there easily. The shop was a little small but trendy, the clothes there weren't like any other place.

He had made up his mind; this place would be the first place he would apply. He opened the door and was pleased as he heard a tiny chime; he decided he liked that sound. There was no one else in the store; some one came out from the back. When Sora laid eyes on this person he felt his breath catch in his chest.

This person was male, with spiky blonde hair, a good built with broad shoulders, his eyes were just the right shade of blue, baby blue, and he looked young. Sora felt guilt when he realized that he might be attracted to this man, maybe applying here wasn't the best idea. Sora caught his own thoughts. Of course he wasn't attracted to this guy he couldn't be he was male. A boy damn it! The look that the blonde man was giving him snapped Sora back into reality, he managed a small greeting. "Hi"

"What can I do for you?" The blonde man asked.

"I was wanting to drop of a resume." Sora said quickly.

The blonde man raised an eyebrow. "Sorry but we're not hiring right now. But I can keep it on file if you'd like." Sora handed him a copy of his resume. Sora watched as the man looked it over. "So your names Sora then?"

"How did you know that!" Sora said a little shocked.

Again the man raised his brow. "Because it says it right here." He said as he pointed to Sora's name written at the top of the resume.

Sora nervously laughed embarrassed by his own stupid question. "Sorry I guess I'm a little out of it."

The door chime brought Sora's attention to the person who walked into the store next. A young girl with jaw length black hair walked into the store removing her jacket.

"Hey Cloud I'm back you can go for your lunch now."

"Thanks Yuffie." Cloud responded. "Hey Sora want to join me?"

"Um, sure…" Sora was a little shocked at the invitation.

"By the way, the name's Cloud." Cloud said finally introducing himself.

* * *

Author Notes: Ta Da! Chapter One done, complete, finito! Please Review and tell me what you think. I know it's not perfect.

Edit: Fixed a few spelling and grammatical errors – 11-28-05

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	2. Chapter 2

You Could Be the Reason

Chapter Two

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square-enix and Disney, not me.

Author Notes: Thank you to everyone who reviewed my first chapter, I love you all to bits. You say such nice things.

* * *

Cloud took Sora to a small restaurant, a really casual place called the seventh heaven. The inside was small, comfortable, and just a little too dark for Sora's taste but he didn't complain. Sora looked around fascinated by this new place, he had seen the building several times from the outside but he had never set foot inside. It looked like there was a lounge in the back, Sora thought that he'd like to try it out once he turned eighteen, maybe Cloud would take him. 'There I go again' Sora thought to himself, he had only just met Cloud and he probably only invited him to come along because Sora just happened to be there at the right time and it would have been rude to have just left.

Sora and Cloud were lead to a table near the back by a waitress, she seemed like an airhead to Sora. "Tifa will be right with you Cloud." She said, apparently Cloud was a regular here.

"So ever been here before?" Cloud asked Sora, attempting small talk.

"No, I've seen it from the outside plenty of times before though."

"I know the lady who owns the place, she always gives me a discount, I come here for my lunch a lot."

"Really? I'm sure if I got a discount somewhere I'd go there a lot too." Sora agreed with Clouds logic. The two sat in silence for a while before a busty woman with long dark hair approached them.

"Wow Cloud you brought company, who is he? A cousin?" The woman asked.

"Sora this is Tifa, Tifa Sora, I just met him." Cloud explained.

"Just met? And you've taken him to lunch already. Impressive Cloud I didn't think you could make a move that fast." Tifa teasingly told Cloud.

"Ignore her it'll be best for your health." Cloud advised Sora.

Sora didn't know what to say he felt a little awkward sitting there suddenly. He had just realized that he had no clue what kind of relationship these two had, what if she was his girlfriend? No, Cloud had said that it was a friend who owned the restaurant. But he never said that she was the one who owned the place, she could be his girlfriend. For some reason Sora suddenly felt overwhelmed. "Sorry could you direct me to your washrooms?" Sora tried to ask politely, for some reason he felt as if he were offending everyone.

"Just over that way" Tifa said pointing to the opposite corner near the kitchen.

"Thank you." Sora hurried his way into the washroom and leaned over the sink. He seemed to be having a hard time breathing. 'Okay Sora think this over.' He thought to himself. He walked into that trendy little store to drop off an application, were he met Cloud, he had one very awkward and embarrassing conversation with him, then was asked to lunch were he had just met someone who could very well be Clouds girlfriend. Okay so it didn't make the most sense and it certainly didn't explain why he was suddenly having a nervous breakdown. He needed a game plan, he just needed to live through lunch and he'd be able to finish off what he came for, he'd go drop off the rest of his resumes around the island then he'd go home and forget that any of this happened. …but what if Cloud called and wanted him to come in for an interview? No that wouldn't happen Cloud had said they weren't hiring.

Sora finally pulled himself together and left the washroom, Tifa had apparently left because Cloud was sitting alone now. He seemed to be concentrating on the menu in front of him. "I didn't know what you wanted to drink so I just ordered you a coke I hope that's fine." He said as Sora sat down again.

"Oh yeah that'll be fine." Sora picked up the menu; the food options were typical for this kind of place the only thing unusual was that there wasn't a sign of burgers anywhere on the menu. "So how are the club sandwiches here?" Sora asked, trying to avoid the silence that seemed to have broken out.

"Not bad, just don't get any of the soups." Cloud responded. "You thinking of getting one?" He asked mildly curious.

"I think so; I've been living off sandwiches lately."

"I guess I'll get one too then." Cloud said laying his menu aside.

"So is Tifa your girlfriend?" Sora asked the question that seemed to have been gnawing away at the back of his mind.

"No, just a friend. She's the one who owns this place. Though I think she'd like it if she were… fat chance of that ever happening."

Sora couldn't quite explain the feeling of relief he got from this news. Just then original waitress appeared again. "So Cloud you guys ready to order yet." She said as she put there drinks on the table. It looked like Cloud had ordered a coffee for himself.

"Yeah two club sandwiches." Cloud responded.

"Do you want them on separate bills or is one fine?" She asked as she scribbled the order down.

Sora was about to say two bills but Cloud beat him to it. "One bill is fine, I'm covering it."

"You can't do that!" Sora burst out. Both Cloud and the waitress looked at him. "I mean … you just met me you can't pay for my lunch."

"You're the one looking for a job, I'm paying." Cloud said with a final 'that's what I say that's what were doing' look.

"Um, Okay then your order will be right up then." The waitress said as she left.

"So what grade are you going into, Sora?" Cloud asked, "Or have you already graduated?"

"I'm going into my last year of high school.' Sora responded. "It's kinda freaky knowing I've only got one year left."

"I remember that feeling. So you're what sixteen?"

"Seventeen going on eighteen in two months." Sora answered quickly.

"So you're probably the oldest of all your friends then?" Cloud asked. Sora really didn't know what to think of all these strange questions the older man was suddenly asking him.

"No, my friend Riku's older then me by a year, he was held back in-" Sora suddenly realized that he had called Riku his friend still.

"I take it he's not really a friend anymore." Cloud said more of a statement then another question.

Sora was a little amazed at Clouds ability of perception, no one else would have been able to tell that, that quickly. "I'm not really sure anymore…" Sora turned his full attention back to the coke Cloud had ordered for him.

The waitress picked that moment to interrupt them with their order. She set the sandwiches down in front of them; her mouth was going apparently talking small talk with Cloud. Sora really wasn't paying any attention to her, he found her slightly high pitched voice irritating he was grateful that she had picked that moment to interrupt but he wished she would leave him with Cloud alone. For some reason Sora liked to be around the man he had just met. He looked up from the ice floating in his drink and looked up at Cloud; he noticed that his eyes seemed to sparkle when the light from an overhead chandelier caught them adding even more brilliance to the baby blue orbs.

The waitress wished them a good meal and nodded her head at Sora before she left, swaying her hips just a bit. Sora wondered if she was trying to seduce Cloud, he almost wished now that he had paid attention to what the two were saying just moments before.

"You should eat your sandwich." Cloud said interrupting Sora's almost steady stream of thought.

"What?" Sora said stupidly as he looked back at Cloud.

"You're so small you need to eat to grow… I can't believe you're almost eighteen." Cloud said as he picked up his own sandwich.

"Well excuse me for my bad genetics." Sora said laughingly picking up his sandwich and taking a bite. "I'll have you know I have a very healthy appetite."

Cloud laughed "I'll believe it when I see it."

Lunch was a wholesome experience for both members. Cloud had felt lonely ever since his girlfriend, Arieth, broke up with him earlier in the Year, and he decided suddenly inviting the young stranger to lunch was the best idea he had come up with in a while, mentally congratulating himself. Sora was a good kid; he laughed whole heartedly and had a cheery effect on Cloud. Indeed Sora did prove himself to have a healthy appetite, he consumed his sandwich in what Cloud believed to be record time and cleaned his plate of every last side order fry and even picked a few off Clouds plate.

Half heartedly Cloud announced that he had to back to work seeing as his hour lunch break was nearly up. Sora had walked along with him back to the shop. Back inside Cloud found he was almost sad to know that he would have to be leaving the energetic youth so quickly. Inside the shop he found Yuffie just ringing through the single customer in the small building, it was defiantly a slow day. He greeted Yuffie as he dropped his jacket off in the back, when he returned he found Yuffie cleaning the changing room the customer had used and Sora was browsing through a rack of dress shirts. "Hey." Cloud said addressing Sora. Sora looked up at the sudden noise and smiled. "You planning on buying something?"

Sora looked almost hurt at Clouds question. "Not today, but I like a few of these shirts I might talk my mom into buying me one tomorrow." Sora looked back down at the rack and almost immediately he brought his eyes back up to Cloud almost shyly. "I guess I should get going though… it was nice meeting you."

"I'll call you sometime." Cloud said. Sora's head snapped back, his Cobalt eyes full of wonder. "Remember." Cloud tapped the resume that still sat on the counter.

"I can't believe that was the second time I did that." Sora said, he turned to leave and just before exiting the building he turned back to Cloud and Yuffie. "Bye" and with that he was gone down the street in a few quick strides.

Yuffie emerged from the change room her arms full of discarded clothing. "I thought you didn't date younger people Cloud?" She teased as she watched Cloud file Sora's resume.

Cloud rolled his eyes at the girl. "I invited him to lunch… why does everything have to be a date with you?"

"I don't know Cloud, it sure sounded like a lunch date to me." Yuffie giggled as she returned to her work straightening the clothing on their hangers and returning them to their proper place.

* * *

Indeed Sora did talk his mom into buying him a dress shirt the very next day; unfortunately Cloud wasn't there until later in the evening. There was only one person working in the store when Sora and his mother entered the building, She was young with dark brown hair that went passed her shoulder blades. She was wearing a flattering pink duster (Which Sora's mother was able to base an entire conversation around when the lady greeted them) Sora liked the white wings on the back. "Hi, do you to need any help finding anything?" She asked when she saw them enter.

"Well I think Sora has an idea here of what he'd like and… Oh I just love that sweater you're wearing!" Sora's mother said.

"Really? I wear it all the time it's so comfy!" She replied.

Sora took this opportunity to wander away as the two women started chatting about fashion. He went to the rack he had been looking through the other day and found the shirt that had caught his eye. It was a solid blue button up silk shirt; Sora loved the feel of the material when he ran his hand over it, and the way that it caught the light that sent highlights of baby blue that contrasted perfectly with the deeper shadows made it seem iridescent. Sora continued to marvel at the shirt until he noticed the price tag. Fifty dollars… suddenly he wasn't so sure that his mother would buy it for him. Maybe if he were to convince her that he would pay her back with his first paycheck. She would loan him the money for now wouldn't she…

"Hey hun! Found what you were looking for?" Sora's mother suddenly said causing Sora to jump with surprise.

"Oh, yeah… but…"

"But what? Oh that's such a nice blouse I didn't think you were capable of picking out such nice clothing."

Sora felt a type of panic rise up in him. For some strange reason he didn't want Clouds co-workers to here this conversation. "Mom! Shush!" Sora commanded. "It's a little pricy…"

Sora's mother grabbed the shirt and looked at the price tag, he saw her brow crinkle. "Sora…"

"What if I were to pay you back with my first paycheck?" Sora said quickly hoping that she would allow it.

"Well I don't like the idea of you spending money before you even get it…" Sora almost felt his heart drop. "But you never really ask for much, and you need a good shirt to wear on dressier occasion…" Sora grinned he like how this was sounding. I guess this one time wouldn't hurt… but you have to try it on to make sure that it'll fit properly and I want to see it okay?"

"You bet!" Sora felt like leaping through the store, he wasn't quite sure why this shirt was so important to him all of a sudden.

"Now were did that Rinoa get to?" Sora's mother asked, seemingly to no one in particular.

"Who?" Sora asked looking at his mother with wide eyes.

"Silly, the lady who greeted us when we came in. Oh, there she is." Sora's mother said pointing to the cash desk. She was ringing through an older lady through and was talking quickly, it seemed she was explaining there return policy. Sora guessed that was a question that she was asked a lot considering how quickly she rattled through it. Rinoa smiled at them when Sora's mother asked for a change room.

"Sure I'll unlock one for you right away." She grabbed a key that was hanging on the wall behind her and left the counter. She led them to a row of wooden doors that didn't quite reach the ground and unlocked the third from the right. Sora felt himself being ushered in by his mother, and turned and saw the door close behind him. He could hear his mother chatting with Rinoa again. He rolled his eyes when she started talking about how he and Riku used to come home filthy when they were kids.

Sora looked down at the shirt clutched in his hands, he had never known why but he always felt uncomfortable trying on clothes. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that he was putting on something that didn't belong to him yet, or if it was that he was in a public place, he just never felt comfortable. The voices of the two women on the other side of the door didn't seem to be helping him very much. He took a deep breath and removed the shirt he was wearing, and as he fumbled with the buttons on the silk 'blouse' as his mother had referred to it earlier. He was almost certain that if anyone were to open the door at this point he would shriek and try to cover himself, which was one thing he didn't want Cloud to hear about.

He slipped the shirt on, he enjoyed the feel of the silk on his shoulders it was so soft and lightweight it almost didn't feel as if it was there. He loved how cool the fabric felt against his skin. And not until he finished buttoning every last button did he open the door so his mother could see. He froze when he saw Rinoa smiling at him, "It looks great on you, good pick for first time around some people come in here and have to try on a few different sizes before they get one that fit's right."

"Um… Were did my mom go?" Sora asked nervously.

"Oh, she saw some pants she wanted you to try on." She explained.

Sora felt himself groan inwardly. Perhaps this was another reason he hated trying things on his mother always came back with a bunch of things wanting him to try them on. He had some very bad memories of her shoving things at him; most of the stuff looked ridiculous once he put it on.

"Oh, you look wonderful in that hun!" He heard his mother exclaim. Sora felt kind of relieved when he saw that she only had one pair of pants in her arms. "Here try this on with it." She shoved a pair of light cotton pants at him, he held them up. They didn't seem that bad, just a plain pair of black pants.

He returned back out a moment later with the pants on, they were too long and several inches touched the floor. Rinoa lent down and folded them up a bit; she looked at the extra length and made a small sound. "What's wrong?" Sora's mother asked.

"Do you know how to sew?" Rinoa asked. "The next size smaller will be to short for him, so you'd have to hem this pair to make them fit."

"Oh well, I don't sew but my sister does she'd be able to do it. Besides these are on sale I can't pass them up." Sora's mother said.

Sora seemed to be caught up in the whirlwind of the two women, he had tried on several more pairs of pants and in the end he ended up only with the shirt he originally picked out. The next thing he knew he was at the cash desk. "Did you drop off an application here yesterday?" Rinoa asked Sora.

"Huh? What? Oh, Yeah I did…" Sora didn't understand why she was just suddenly asking this now.

"Alright, so that comes to twenty six seventy five." Rinoa said after she had keyed the shirt into the till.

"Oh! Was it on sale?" Sora's mother asked trying to look at the monitor on the register.

"No, Cloud said to use his discount for whatever Sora bought." Rinoa explain. "Fifty percent discount not bad eh?"

"Oh? Who's Cloud?" Sora's mother asked.

"He's our store manager, and by the sounds of it from Yuffie, Sora's new boyfriend." Rinoa answered.

"What?" Sora exclaimed when did that happen?

Sora's mother started laughing. "You never told me about that Sora, you'd think you'd be able to trust me enough to tell me something like that."

"I only met him yesterday!" Sora started to feel defensive he never really like it when his mother laughed at him.

"I wouldn't worry about it, I never believe anything Yuffie says, she's just trying to stir up some trouble." Rinoa said bringing calm to the chaos she had created within Sora.

* * *

Sora and his mother decided to stop for coffee before heading home. Sora had the bag with his shirt in it clutched tightly in his hands. "The midnight tree…" Sora's mother said.

"What?"

"The midnight tree, the name of that store… strange name for a clothing store don't you think?" She asked as she looked up at the menu trying to decide what exactly she wanted to drink.

"Oh yeah, I guess it is." Sora hated waited for her in coffee shops she always took forever trying to decide what she wanted. "Do you know what you're getting?"

"Yeah, let's order." She approached the young guy behind the counter. He had short dirty blonde hair and wore a name tag that said Sean. Sean… Sean… Sora thought, he seemed kind of familiar. "Sora what do you want?"

As soon as Sean smirked Sora knew who he was. He was one of Riku and Kairi's friends… One of the worse ones, one of the ones who liked to pick on him. Sora felt his knees start to weaken. "Come on Sora your holding up the line." Sean said. It would have sounded like an ordinary statement to anyone else, but Sora heard it. He had heard that tone many times in school, he was sure if it wasn't for the fact that he might right out loose his job Sora was sure that he would be saying much worse.

Sora's mother sighed. "He'll take a steamed milk with Carmel syrup." She said ordering for him. She knew he liked the sweet drink.

Sean entered the order in and told her the total. "You always go out shopping with your Mom Sora?" He asked with the same subtle tone. "It's so nice that you like to spend time with her, you must be a momma's boy then."

"Oh you two know each other!" Sora's mother exclaimed. "Look at that Sora now were starting to run into your friends. That's wonderful."

"Oh were friends alright, spent a lot of time around each other in school didn't we." Sean said.

"Not really that much time." Sora turned his head away trying to get his mother to clue in that he really didn't want to be here.

"Aww don't be shy Sora."

Sora heard their order get called at the other end of the counter he was relieved at the excuse to get away from there quickly. He grabbed their drinks and sat down at a table followed shortly by his mother. "That was a little rude." She said as she sat down.

"He's one of Riku and Kairi's friends." He explained.

"Oh…" She said turning her attention to her coffee. "…What do you say to going home?" She asked not sure what to do now. "I'm sure you don't want to be seen in public with your mother."

"It's not like that mom…" Sora said, he didn't want her to feel bad but right now

He really did want to go home. "I don't think there's much more for us to do…"

* * *

It had been a week, one very long, very boring week and still he hadn't heard from any of the places he had applied at. He had spent the time trying to hone his poor art skills; the only thing he had to show for it was a large pile of messy drawings. One thing was for sure he wasn't much of an artist.

He had gotten a letter from Wakka; the letter had been several pages long. It was traditional for Wakka to send people letters while he was away at Blitzball camp but never once had Sora gotten one that long. Wakka had probably guessed that Sora would be miserable this summer without Riku and Kairi around, he had guessed right. Sora seemed to have slipped into a lethargic state and had trouble motivating himself to do anything. He spent most of his days lying on his bed willing himself to go outside and enjoy the warm tropical weather. Sometimes it would work and he would find himself lying on the grass in his back yard willing himself to go an extra step and do something. Other times it wouldn't work and he would fall asleep. One thing was for sure he wasn't behind on his sleep.

Today was one of those days were he was doubting that he would make it off his bed. Distantly he heard the phone ringing, still even that didn't make him get up. The phone was never for him, his mother had been doing a lot of work at home lately and she got a lot of calls from the head office. Perhaps he was wrong. His mother stuck her head in through the door. "Sora the phones for you."

Instantly he was up and down the hall where the nearest phone was located, maybe it was one of the places he had applied at wanting an interview. He took the phone off the receiver, "Hello, Sora speaking."

"Hey Sora its Cloud."

"Cloud? What are you calling me for?" Sora really didn't know what to think of the man calling him so suddenly.

"You dropped off a resume remember."

"I though you said you weren't hiring." Sora was confused now.

"Yeah that was before but Zidane up and quit on me. I was wondering if you could start soon."

"Don't I need to go for an interview first?"

"Consider lunch your interview; do you want to work for me or what? It'll just be temporary mind you."

"Sure!" Sora had done it; Sora had just landed his first job.

* * *

Author Notes: Eh, I don't like this chapter as much as the first one… Not much happened next chapter will be better. Sora's first day at work! Please review and tell me what you think.

Edit: Fixed spelling and Grammatical errors – 11-28-05


	3. Chapter 3

You Could Be the Reason

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: Not mine… even though I wish it was … … … sob

Warning: Minor Kairi bashing. Kairi fans beware.

Author Notes: Thank you all my wonderful reviewers, you fill my heart with love and inspire me to write more. Yesterday I dropped off my portfolio for school, hopefully I'll get excepted wish me all luck!

* * *

Sora stood outside of the midnight tree, it was early in the morning and his first day. Cloud had told him that he wanted Sora there bright and early so they could go over some of the basic stuff before they opened that way Sora could get at least a little bit of practice in before having to actually deal with a customer. Currently it was twenty past six; he was required to be there at six thirty. He must have gotten this from his mother, he thought slightly annoyed that he had to stand and wait. He had woken up earlier than he had anticipated and was well prepared, he wanted to be there early, but he didn't think that he would end up sitting here waiting for so long. He should have guessed that Cloud wouldn't be there that early. 

Finally at six twenty five a car finally pulled into the miniscule parking lot at the side of the building. It was just a little thing; it looked like a rusted up Datsun that used to be red. A blonde man stepped out. He was dressed casually in worn blue jeans and a simple t-shirt; Sora felt his heart fall when he realized that it wasn't Cloud. The man (who closer up looked maybe only two years older than Sora) waved to Sora. "Hey you must be Sora, my names Zidane."

Sora faltered. Hadn't Cloud told him that Zidane had quit? Maybe Zidane was here to tell Sora that he had gotten his job back and Sora wasn't needed anymore. What if Cloud had changed his mind about hiring Sora and had begged Zidane to come back and had neglected to tell Sora 'Your ass is dumped'. But no, Sora needed to get his head together Cloud wouldn't have forgotten to call him if he wasn't required to be here would he? Finally he managed a weak greeting. "Um, Hi."

"What's wrong? You shy?" Zidane asked cocking his head to the side, reminding Sora very much of a small animal of sorts.

"Well no it's just…"

"Just what? Coming down with a cold?" Zidane asked as he pulled out what Sora presumed to be the key to the store.

"Well… Cloud told me that you quit." Sora looked down at the sidewalk as Zidane visually stiffened the key pausing in the lock.

"Is he doing that shit again?" Zidane said a hint of annoyance on his voice. "He told me he wasn't going to do that, I swear if he doesn't want me around he should just fire me."

"He said that he hired me because you quit… does this mean I don't actually have the job?" Sora asked tentatively.

Zidane laughed. "Nah, don't worry about it. We usually hire someone temporary for the summer, Christmas time too, a lot of employees like to take some time off for vacations and shit." Zidane finished unlocking the door and gestured for Sora to enter. Locking the door again behind them.

"Now it depends whose working but sometimes we get to change the station." Zidane walked over to the little radio located on the end of the cash desk, and turned it on. "You don't mind Vibe?"

"Sure that's fine." Sora said. Zidane didn't hesitate to change the station knob. Vibe was the most popular station amongst younger audiences on Destiny Island. Sora himself had actually forgone the radio and had turned to CD's within the past year.

"So let's go over the basics then." Zidane said suddenly turning from the radio, which was playing a remix of a Kalan Porter song. "All the clothing in the store has some sort of organization system, other than the basic colour groupings and size groupings within the colour groupings. It's really hard to explain but you'll learn it from experience." Zidane directed Sora to the back of the store were the change rooms were located. "When you see a customer carrying anything in there hands, clothing wise, ask them if they'd like a changing room started. If they say yes that's when you take there clothes from them and open up a change room, that way they can go in anytime and try on whatever you put in there for them. Make sure you know how many pieces they take in there, that way you'll know if anyone is trying to slip something underneath a sweater or whatever the hell it is Shoplifters do now-a-days." Zidane led Sora back to the cash desk again.

"So I need to be conscious of how many items people end up with in the changing room?" Sora thought everything over; Zidane had rattled it all off so fast he was having a hard time keeping up. "Why don't we have numbers to put on the doors?"

"Um…" Zidane stopped to think the answer over. "I'm not sure I think it has something to do with Cloud's girlfriend."

"Cloud has a girlfriend…?" Sora said dejectedly.

"I think so… or did they break up? Yuffies the one who keeps track of that sort of thing." Zidane turned back to the cash desk. "Anyway, you're not going to get trained on the register yet. Rinoa's the one that's suppost to train you there and she has the next few days off, but it's not that big of a deal we're not commission based so it's not like your going to loose out on pay because of it." Zidane explained.

"Rinoa? I met her once." Sora said absently as he stared at the register. He felt intimidated by all of the keys; deep down he was glad he wasn't learning it today he wasn't sure if he would be able to keep up with all the information given to him.

"Really? Well anyway when you've got a customer and they have all the shit that they want to buy you bring them to me and I'll ring them through the cash and you can take over any of the customers I've got, if I'm dealing with any at the time. Make sure you clean out the change room when your customers are done. If we're busy just put it on the dump rack."

"Dump rack?" Sora asked.

"Yeah it's the rack right there." Zidane pointed right next to the last change room. "The one with nothing on it. Then when we slow down you can empty the rack and put it back on the floor. Or if it's been busy all day we can empty it at the end of the night before we go home."

Zidane continued showing Sora the ropes, as sailors call it, and before either of them knew it, it was time to open the shop. Zidane unlocked the doors for the customers at nine. Now that the sun had risen past the horizon Sora could tell that it was going to be another beautiful tropical day on the island and he wondered absently if he would soon be longing to go out in it instead of being stuck inside at work all day. Sora was looking forward to dealing with his first customer and he and Zidane waited, and waited, and waited…

"So… you wanna play a game of cards or something?" Zidane said from his spot behind the cash desk.

Sora who was leaning on the desk itself looked at him curiously. "We can do that?"

"Sure I mean, as long as there isn't any other work to do. There's no customers, no clothes to re-merchandise, all the cleaning was done thoroughly last night since Quistis was the one that closed." Zidane said, scowling at the radio momentarily when it started playing a Britney Spears song apparently not in his taste.

Sora shrugged his shoulders. "Sure I guess what do you want to play?"

"You know how to play poker?" Zidane asked as he reached down to grab a deck.

"No, you could teach me I guess."

Not a customer stepped foot into the store until quarter to ten. Zidane took Sora and greeted the customer showing Sora the proper way to do it. The customer seemed to enjoy Sora's fumbling attempts at his first real act of work. She herself said 'the best way to learn is from example' and forgave Sora easily for anything he was to do wrong.

Business picked up after ten o'clock passed and Sora was starting to get into the swing of things. He had just successfully waved a customer out of the building after they had made their purchase from Zidane, when some familiar faces walked into the building.

Riku, Kairi, and Selphie walked in casually. Sora froze. They weren't allowed to shop were he worked; it was something he had never contemplated. Selphie was the first to notice Sora and she sauntered over to him easily. "What's this? Sora shopping somewhere with taste…"

Kairi giggled and Sora felt his face flush. Riku walked up to him forcing Sora to look up at him, since he stood a few inches taller then the younger boy. "Stay the hell away from Kairi." He warned his voice tense, it had almost sounded like he hissed it out.

Luckily for Sora, Zidane seemed to have noticed that there was history with this new batch of customer, he took that moment to come to Sora's rescue. "Hey, Sora go for your break you've got half an hour. I'll cover your customers for you. You've got to take one before you're off."

Sora was grateful for Zidanes timing. He was out of the store before anyone could say another word to him.

* * *

Sora hadn't realized that he was so hungry until he actually started eating his lunch. So working, even if it was the miniscule bit that he had been doing, did make you really hungry he mused. He had found a small reasonably priced café not far from the midnight tree, it wasn't the seventh heaven were Cloud had taken him but if Sora sat at the outside patio he would be able to see the restaurant. 

He thought about the near encounter he had just before leaving. Neither Riku nor Kairi had shopped there when they were still friends. Then again a lot of things had changed since then, Sora looked down at the salad he had ordered and stabbed it with his fork. Sure he was angry at them, but then wouldn't he do the same thing if he was in Rikus place? No he would never be in Rikus place; Riku was attractive, athletic, unique. No one else in the school had hair like Riku or eyes like his. It was true he stood out in a crowd while Sora was much better at blending into the background. Kairi she was cute, funny, and always fit in with any crowd of girls. She had been friends with Selphie for a long time and even though Selphie never liked that Kairi spent much of her free time with Sora Kairi was always welcomed into Selphies horde of girls. It was destiny Sora guessed that Riku and Kairi would end up successful somewhere someday.

Sora sighed and shook his head; he guessed that it was nearly time to head back to work anyway. He hoped that the three would be gone by the time that he got back. He stood outside the door to the midnight tree and looked in hesitantly hoping that he would get some kind of a warning if they were still in there, he was sure that if they were in there he would spot Rikus hair a mile away. He didn't see any such thing. Sora puffed up his chest and walked in.

Indeed they were gone, again it looked slow. Zidane was clearing off what little was put on the dump rack and there wasn't a sign of another human anywhere in the little building. Sora sighed in relief at that, and went to go help Zidane clear the rack.

"So who were they?" Zidane asked before even saying hi to Sora.

"Oh just some old friends from school." Sora responded focusing on the clothing in front of him.

"That didn't seem like **just** some old friends Sora. Tell me the whole story." Zidane said forcing the just.

Sora looked at him with the corner of his eye. "Fine I'll tell you. Two of them used to be my best friends."

"Used to be?"

Zidane really wanted to get the whole story Sora noticed slightly annoyed that he would have to tell the whole story over again.

* * *

Sora got off work at noon, a fact that he was very thankful for. As he was saying his final goodbye to Zidane, Yuffie walked in. "Hey Zidane, Hi Sora!" she said cheerfully as she dropped her bag in behind the cash desk. 

"You know you're suppost to put that in the back room." Zidane reminded her.

"Oh 'cause you never do anything wrong. Besides Clouds not in today." She said with finality "You off now Sora?"

"Um… Yeah, I was here early." Sora responded. He really didn't feel comfortable with this girl talking to him so casually. Zidane he didn't mind he had bonded with the blonde during the day but this girl was still a stranger.

"Early this morning?" She looked at Zidane. "That means you're off early today! Please tell me Cloud scheduled someone to help with closing since I'll probably be swamped with customers this afternoon!"

"I think he's got Garnet coming in at three, or some shit like that" Zidane said.

"Thank god." Yuffie said with relief.

Sora chuckled at the overly expressive girl. "I'll see you around, bye." He called out as he opened the door.

He heard both of them behind them both say goodbye. He smiled slightly, 'I think I'm going to like working here.' He thought to himself.

He hadn't made it very far before he heard someone running up behind him calling for him to wait. It turned out to be Yuffie. "Sora wait!" She called overdramatically considering he was only a few paces away.

"What is it Yuffie?" It seemed strange to be calling her by her first name, since she was basically a stranger.

"I forgot to welcome you." She explained.

"What… but I'm leaving."

"I mean to the company." She took Sora up in a big hug. "Welcome!"

Sora felt the heat coming to his face at the sudden public display of affection from the girl. She set him back down and smiled at him. "Anything you want to say?"

"Um… Thank you?" Sora tried, not sure what it was she wanted from him.

"See ya around Sora."

"Wait! Um… Zidane said something this morning about Cloud having a girlfriend." Sora wasn't quite sure were this came from, but the question seemed to pop out of his mouth far too readily. "I mean… uh…"

"Why would he say something about that?" Yuffie wondered out loud. "Cloud and his girlfriend broke up months ago." She shook her head slightly. "As I remember he took it really hard, really I don't think he's been exactly cheerful since they split. I never liked her. Arieth was her name, she was too nice. Really Cloud needs someone who can stand up for themselves better, but then I guess he's never been attracted to girls like that otherwise he and Tifa I'm sure would be hooked up right now. I think the only time she actually stood up for herself was when she broke up with him. Cloud would have done anything for her and she just dumped him on his ass like he was nothing."

Sora realized that she was rambling and wondered if she had an obsession with Cloud or something, he was hesitant to interrupt. "Um… Yuffie?"

"Yeah?"

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Oh crap! See ya Sora." With that she ran back into the midnight tree.

Sora shook his head in disbelief. She was an interesting person alright.

* * *

Sora had decided that since it was so nice outside that day, like most days, that he would walk home. He was nearing the school when he heard a familiar voice behind him, a very familiar voice, a voice that seemed to live almost exclusively in his dreams now. "Sora!" It was Riku. 

He paused, should he stop to talk to Riku or should he keep going pretending he never heard him? Sora sighed; no matter how bad things got between them Sora would never be able to just ignore Riku. He turned around and scowled at the taller male. "What do you want Riku?" Kairi was with him.

"Since when did you work for the midnight tree?" Riku asked, raising his eyebrow in suspicion.

"Since I got hired there." Sora answered quickly.

Kairi giggled, "your soooo funny Sora." She said sarcastically.

Sora rolled his eyes, since when wasn't he able to stand Kairi's little quirks? "I do have better things to do you know?" Sora lied, he had no clue what he was going to do to pass the rest of the afternoon.

"Like what? Tidus and Wakka are away, or did you magically dig up some new friends out of your back pocket?" Kairi said, Riku smirked.

Sora blanched that was something Kairi didn't really need to bring up. He felt emotions rising up inside of him. Not sadness but confusion, anger, fury! At that point in time Sora felt the uncontrollable urge to tear Kairi to shreds. Who was that bitch to start picking at tiny little details like that, there was plenty he could do on a weekday afternoon that had nothing to do with anyone. Sora felt his control over his emotions loosening. "Watch it you little bitch!" Sora warned.

Next thing Sora knew he was on the ground, white flashes dancing in front of his eyes, his face blossoming in pain. Riku was standing over him, he looked furious. "Stay away from her Sora." The two of them left him there sprawled out over the sidewalk, he saw Kairi look back over her shoulder. Rikus arm was wrapped around her waist protectively. She stuck her tongue out at Sora, oh real mature, Sora thought.

Slowly he got himself up from the ground, again the spots danced in front of his eyes, he felt dizzy. Sora raised his hand up to his face to assess the damage. His left eye felt hot, surely he'd end up with a nice shiner by tomorrow. Great just what he needed on his second day.

* * *

At home predictably Sora's mother had made big fuss when he came home. She had tended to his face and had promised a way of hiding what was soon going to be a serious black eye. Sora was sure it was going to be makeup. She scowled and chastised Riku for doing such a thing even though he was no where near her at the time. 

Finally after reassuring his mother that he was fine and promising to keep an ice pack over his eye at least a dozen times Sora was released and he slunk into his room. It figured today would have to be one of the only days that she would have to be home at this time. He was still thankful that she had been even though he felt a little embarrassed. He sunk down onto his bed and turned on his laptop. Right now he needed the escape of the World Wide Web.

However even though he had intended to surf around maybe check if any of his sites had updated he found himself staring at old pictures of when He and Riku had been kids, before Kairi had come to the small chain of islands. He was sitting staring at the screen wondering what life would be like now if she had never come, what if it had been he and Riku alone.

He slowly flipped through pictures some with Kairi, some with out, but all of them had Riku. He watched the slow slideshow and watched as almost surreally Riku and he had grown… right now in the span of minutes. He stopped at a picture from last summer; he remembered this day quite clearly.

Riku, Kairi, and he had spent the day on their island. One of the only days that summer were they had spent the whole day there, it seemed that as they grew they found the malls and the theaters more interesting then their old games. But this day had been an exception. They covered all of it: the raft building, the races, the sparing, even their secret spot under the old tree. It was a day of pure innocence and bliss.

This particular picture Riku and Kairi were standing in the shallow waves of the ocean, they were both smiling at the camera. Click. The next picture Sora was with them he had held the camera in the air and blindly pressed the shutter, all things aside he was lucky this picture had turned out, he could have taken a picture of the ground just a easily. Click, next picture. This one was Riku and Sora with there wooden swords standing on the paopu tree island. Both of them focused on winning their play match. Click. Riku was sitting on his usual spot on the trunk of the paopu tree; he wore his swimming trunks and was gazing out over the ocean. The sun was setting behind him.

The light from the setting sun gave his hair an unreal glow, his skin was lightly tanned kissed gently by the sun, and his eyes, oh his eyes were the best part. The light aquamarine colour seemed untouched. While everything else in the picture took on the warm colours gifted to them by the setting sun, his eyes were the cool light blue they always were. His eyes, the eyes not even nature could touch.

Sora had a secret, a secret he had never dreamed of telling anyone a secret even he himself tried to deny. He was attracted to Riku, highly attracted to Riku. Sora sighed and laid on his back staring blankly at the ceiling. He was attracted to Riku, but he was also attracted to Cloud. He was getting himself confused; he wasn't suppost to be drawn to either of them. They were male. There was one thing he was sure of; if Kairi were to suddenly get in a car accident he wouldn't shed one tear. She was the one who had taken Riku away from him in the first place.

* * *

Author Notes: Oh my goodness I can't wait to get to the plot and away from all this setting it up crap! I'm sorry if it sounds rushed… that's because it kinda is… I want to get to the good stuff. Argh, I came up with so many good ideas while writing this chapter. I've even taken it for a twist I had never really intended to take. I can't wait to start tormenting Sora even more! I'm so mean. Zidane was so much fun to write he's full of run on sentences and at the same time sentence fragments. Ha! Take that grammar! Oh my reviewer you're such a source of inspiration…. (That means leave a review!) 

Edit: fixed some spelling and grammatical errors – 11-28-05


	4. Chapter 4

You Could Be the Reason

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: Even though my cats have gone through several lengths to ensure that one day I could call Kingdom Hearts my own… I still can't… 'cause it's not…

Author Notes: I turned down hours at work so I could stay at home and work on this. I'm turning down a bigger paycheck for you people, love me.

* * *

Sora had guessed correctly when it came to his mothers' solution to the now very black eye. She had shown up in his room the next morning with a little bottle of foundation. The makeup did cover the worst of the ugly bruise but it was still apparent that he had been hit. He had shrugged it off when his mother started suggesting other things she could put on his face to conceal the dark spot, Of course he fought it all the way. Next thing he knew he was at work were Yuffie was fussing over his eye.

"Seriously Sora who did this?" she said as she adjusted his head so she could see the bruise in the remaining natural daylight filtering through the front windows. "Did you try to cover this with makeup?"

"I didn't my mom forced it on me."

Yuffie laughed slightly almost mockingly at Sora. "Your mom? But you didn't answer my first question."

"You don't need to concern yourself with it." Sora turned away and attempted to get some work done, but the girl continued to hound him.

"Come on, you know Clouds gonna flip when he sees this, he doesn't take kindly to people beating up his employee's you know."

"I never said somebody beat me up."

"Oh my God, are you hurt in other places too!" Yuffie attempted to lift Sora's shirt to get a better look for further injury.

Sora blushed and attempted to force his shirt back into place, to say the least he was surprised at the older girls strength. "Come on there are customers in the store!"

"Don't worry about them their friends of mine." Yuffie said still trying to relieve Sora of his shirt.

"Isn't your shift nearly over? Please Yuffie let me go!" Sora gasped.

"I've still got some time, Clouds not here yet."

Sora seemed to freeze up, no longer caring that Yuffie was trying to strip him. "Cloud's working today!"

"Yeah, he's going to teach you how to close. Didn't Zidane tell you yesterday?" Yuffie asked forgetting her game with Sora to straighten a jacket on a manikin.

"No"

Almost as if the conversation had summoned him, Cloud walked through the entrance door. "Hey." Was all he said before he disappeared into the backroom. Both Yuffie and Sora waited staring at the door until he reemerged now without a jacket. "What?" He said when he noticed that they were both staring at him.

"You're late." Yuffie said bluntly.

"Traffic." He explained and went to the cash desk to check the sales for the day.

"Traffic? What's with you and one word answers today?" Yuffie asked leaning over to poke Cloud's arm.

"Arieth." He responded.

Yuffie's face dawned with comprehension. Sora however was still confused. "Oh, I guess I'm off now. See ya Cloud, Sora." She said after retrieving her purse from behind the counter, she exited the building with her friends, leaving Cloud and Sora alone.

It had been busier in the afternoon before either Cloud or Sora had arrived the evening shift always was slower, since most people at that time had the idea in their head to go home and have dinner instead of going clothes shopping. It was going to be a long awkward shift Sora determined by Clouds mood.

"Cloud? Are you Okay?" Sora began tentatively.

"Yeah…Sora what happened to your face!" Cloud said, grabbing the boy by the chin and forcing his face closer to Clouds own. Sora could help but blush.

"It's nothing really; you tell me what happened to you." Sora said not attempting to remove his face from Clouds grip. At one point in time Riku would have been the one in Clouds position, Sora thought absently.

"I'll tell you if you tell me what happened first."

Sora contemplated telling a lie just to appease the older male. However something in the back of his mind told him that Cloud would believe anything but the truth. "I had a run in with some old friends." Was the only explanation Sora offered.

"Old friends? One of them hit you?"

"Yeah,"

"Some friends they sound to be. If I were you I'd hit back." Cloud said, running a finger gently over the dark bruise (slightly hid by makeup of course) concern crossing his face as Sora winced at the contact.

"I couldn't do that; I'd feel so guilty if I were to ever hit Riku… after all he used to be my friend right?" Sora said looking down at his feet. "So I told you now you have to tell me what happened."

"My ex called me."

"And?" Sora pressured.

"And, we talked."

"That's it?"

"About it I think."

Sora grew slightly annoyed, he was possibly the only person who worked at the midnight tree who didn't know about the past relationship Cloud had been in. "That's all your going to tell me?"

"Well your story wasn't that climatic." Cloud quipped.

"My story! I was walking home yesterday and my two former best friends showed up and started giving me a hard time I insulted one of them and got hit I deserved it." Sora ended up blurting out. "I don't know anything about what kind of relationship you were in or who she was or anything about her. And you come in here all weird or whatever and refuse to tell me something other than 'We talked' and…" Sora stopped at Clouds raised eyebrow.

"Cut back on the teenage angst Sora."

"What?" Sora was shocked, he wasn't angst-y other people were angst-y.

"If you really want to know so badly I'll tell you. Arieth and I were engaged. I met her seven years ago in a flower shop I was still in high school. We hit it off right away; I was in there every week buying flowers. One day she finally asked me if I wanted to go do something with her." Clouds voice began to sound far away, Sora wondered if he was still aware that he was even there. "I'm not usually the type to let a girl do the asking but I agreed, we went to the movies. Time went on and ended up spending more and more time with her. Before I knew it years had passed and were going to get married. I was so happy then…"

Sora noticed how Clouds eyes were beginning to fill with tears, Sora hadn't even thought about how hard it might have been for Cloud to talk about this sort of thing. "Cloud?..." Sora began but Cloud cut him off and continued on with his story.

"A few months ago, she broke up with me… She still won't tell me the exact reason. I loved her no I still love her, and I thought that she loved me too. I don't care what anyone says just hearing her voice fills me with happiness. I love talking to her on the phone, but whenever I hang up I feel twice as empty as I was before…"

Sora was shocked, he didn't know why Cloud had started to pour all of this out to Sora but deep down Sora was glad. "Were you really together for seven years?" He could have smacked himself what a stupid question.

"Yeah," A tear made its way down Clouds cheek. Sora wiped it away tenderly.

"That's a long time, no wonder Yuffie always talks about her the way that she does."

Sora gave Sora a week smile and pushed his cheek further into Sora's palm. "Thank you Sora for being so understanding. Anyone else would have just laughed at me and told me how much of a baby I was being for crying."

"Don't be ridiculous tears heal you know. Or at least that's what my mom told me."

Cloud grasped Sora's hand in his own and pulled it away from his cheek slowly, his eyes were still wet with tears and gently kissed Sora's forehead. "I don't think I could name another human being that would have said anything so kind to me. Now I think it's about time to close."

Cloud instructed Sora to lock the door while he emptied the register. Sora was glad to be able to turn his back to the other man to hide the blush that was surely turning his whole face red.

* * *

The time seemed to fly by for Sora, any day that he wasn't at work he occupied himself and before he knew it, it was well into the summer and his eighteenth birthday was quickly approaching. He had gotten the hang of everything at the Midnight Tree and had completed all of his training and had been introduced to every employee there. Including an Irvine Kinneas, Irvine was quite a character as far as Sora was concerned. In fact the first time he had met the older boy he was wearing a cowboy hat and singing a country song at the top of his lungs. Save a horse Ride a cowboy he had called it, Irvine had explained all about the song and the group that sung it Big and Rich. Sora had simply laughed at the cowboy as he declared the song as his theme song.

He had also met Quistis who seemed like an obsessive compulsive to Sora, everything had to be just right for her before she deemed it as acceptable. As well he had been introduced to Garnet; she was bright and chipper and had a habit of dressing Sora up if they were ever slow.

Rinoa had started a count down to Sora's birthday and had labelled the day on the calendar as 'Legally allowed to party', Zidane had been the one to add the 'and fuck'. All in all Sora was fitting it really well.

Things were good, at least they were as long as Riku, Kairi, or any of there friends weren't around. Sora had been glad when the black eye had finally faded, and he wasn't wishing for another one anytime soon. Cloud had been able to pry out further information about Sora's past friends and had sworn that they would pay for treating the smaller boy like that. In fact one day he had thrown Kairi and Selphie out of the store when they had tried to pick a fight Sora.

Sora had today off; his mother was at work meaning he was alone for now. Taking advantage of the situation he was currently gorging himself on ice-cream while listening to his CD collection loudly. This was one of his past times; he used to do it a lot when he was younger. Lying on the table was a pile of mail, Sora shifted through it wondering if there was anything interesting. As usual most of it was for his mother; however at the bottom of the pile was a letter from none other than Wakka. Sora grinned glad to see the envelope addressed to him.

Sora read the letter over quickly; As usual it was Wakka went on about the sporting events that he and Tidus went through. Apparently the camp was holding a game, and both Wakka and Tidus had made the team. Wakka sounded excited in the letter as he went on and on about the game and how Tidus had almost not made the team because he had slept in on the day of tryouts. Of course Wakka had extended an invitation to Sora to attend the game. Sora smiled at the generosity of the boy, he always expressed his concern for Sora in all of his letters but he did it in such a way that it wasn't demeaning. Nothing at all like what Tidus would come up with in such a situation.

Sora laughed thinking about what kind of letter he would get from Tidus if he ever got off his lazy ass and sent him anything. 'Hey Sora, you must be lonely since Wakka and I are your only real friends and we've abandoned you for the summer. All well it's not like we didn't tell you to come along.' Yeah that sounded a lot like Tidus. Perhaps, Sora thought, he could invite Cloud to come along to the game. Of course the thought slipped his mind as quickly as it had come when he noticed one of the shows he liked to watch was on TV.

* * *

Though Rinoa was the one who had started the count down Yuffie was the one who enforced it. She reminded Sora every day how long he had to the 'big day' as Irvine had put it. "You've got a week Sora!"

"Six days!"

"Yes Yuffie I know."

"Five"

"Thank you Yuffie for stating the obvious."

"Four"

"Okay you've already told me today…"

"Three"

"La la la I can't hear you!"

"Two"

"Cut it out already Yuffie!"

Finally when it came down to the last day, to Sora's relief, Yuffie wasn't there, it was her day off. He worked with Irvine that day and it was busy enough that he could ignore any remarks the Cowboy sent his way. For once he was glad to have a full dump rack and annoying questions, anything to keep the cowboy away from him.

Usually Sora enjoyed Irvine's company, his quirky stories always seemed to give Sora a good chuckle or two, but today he felt truly alone despite the fact that he was surrounded by people. It was a birthday tradition for Riku and Sora to spend the night before together. They had first done this on Riku's sixth birthday, when Sora had randomly stopped by and ending up spending the night. This year was the first year he wasn't looking forward to seeing his once best friend. Of course Sora knew that they wouldn't be able to keep up the childish act forever, but once he and Riku had predicted they would still be spending the night at each others homes well into their twenties.

Sora had just finished wishing a customer farewell when he realized that they had slowed down and Irvine had started clearing off the dump rack. Sora sighed knowing that he no longer had an excuse to avoid the cowboy. He resigned to his fate and went to help Irvine with the clothing.

"Something wrong?" Irvine asked as Sora approached.

"No, why?"

"Well for someone who's turning eighteen tomorrow you sure don't seem really cheerful. Come on it's time to party!" Irvine did a little dance his arms full of clothing, which limited his movement. In short, he looked ridiculous.

"Why do I have to be cheerful?" Sora asked holding a smile back at Irvine's actions.

"…You do have plans to go out somewhere right?" Irvine asked.

"Well… Truthfully, no. My friends are all out of town right now, there's no one here to go party with."

"All of your friends!" Irvine looked shocked. "Where the hell are all of them?"

"Wakka and Tidus are at blitzball camp. Actually I got a letter from Wakka earlier this week."

"Wa… and… that's it man! Two friends? You seem like a nice kid Sora. What are you anti-social in school or what?" Sora wasn't really appreciating Irvine's reaction.

He considered ignoring him. "I know lots of people in school, just not many who would want to go do something like go celebrate my birthday, and it's too personal. Plus most of them are still underage."

"Okay I guess that makes sense." Irvine said finally deciding to drop the subject. Since Sora didn't seem too comfortable talking about it.

Once the two finished cleaning up the dump rack Irvine had started telling another one of his stories, when Quistis and Cloud walked in the door just before it was time to close the store for the night. Quistis looked the store over once before she 'tsked' and started cleaning things up to her standards. Even Cloud had rolled his eyes at the girl.

"Um, Irvine…? Why are they here?" Sora asked quietly so no one would hear him.

"It's the end of the month, Quistis always does a extra good clean up job and Cloud needs to do paper work you know all that fiscal stuff. He usually just picks it up and does it at home though." Irvine explained. "Why don't you go help Quistis."

As usual Irvine managed to pawn off the dirty work to Sora, both he and Zidane seemed to have a habit of that. Sora playfully scowled at Irvine as he left to go talk to Cloud. Sora approached Quistis. "Need any help."

Quistis looked up at him a little shocked, "Oh, usually no one offers I don't really need it, but if you really want go get the vacuum out of the backroom."

Sora quickly went and did as she requested, returning with the vacuum. He was going to ask her if she wanted him to do any vacuuming but he was interrupted by Cloud.

"I'll give you a ride home if you like."

"A ride home? Are you leaving right now?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I was kinda thinking about leaving instead of standing here watching an obsessive compulsive work."

"I still have half an hour on my shift." Sora really didn't seem to think that he could leave early even if it was the manager asking him to.

"Don't worry we're closed now and Quistis will be here late, Irvine can cover anything you needed to do." Cloud motioned to Irvine who had a sour look on his face. "Come on Irvine it's either do Sora's work or you can help Quistis for the rest of your shift. Go on Sora grab your stuff." Cloud said reassuringly to Sora.

* * *

Cloud had driven Sora home a few times and knew the way quite well. He seemed to be taking his time tonight however. They had been talking small talk when Cloud asked Sora a question the younger boy had not been expecting. "Irvine said you weren't doing anything for your birthday, this true?"

"Um… Uh, well I guess it is." Sora felt kind of ashamed admitting this to Cloud, for some reason he didn't want Cloud knowing about his lack of social life.

"So why don't I take you somewhere?" Cloud asked casually.

"…" Sora really didn't know what to say, he had been secretly crushing over Cloud for the last little while and now he was suddenly asking him something like this.

"That is if your mother wouldn't have a problem with it." Cloud corrected himself when Sora hadn't answered.

"I'm sure she wouldn't, I mean your suppost to be a responsible adult and my boss anyway." Sora said looking down at his lap. Was he just accepting an invitation from Cloud?

"Good, I know just the place to take you. I'll pick you up tomorrow night." Cloud said as he pulled up outside Sora's house.

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you then." Sora said his final goodbye and left the car closing the door behind him.

* * *

Author notes: Hmm… a little short but I decided that this would be a good place to leave off, everyone's just going to have to wait for the next chapter to see some more Cloud Sora action! Yay, I'm finally getting to some of the good stuff. I kinda rushed through this chapter and the beginning really sucks I'm sorry. I guess it took me a bit to get back into the groove.

Oh concerning Riku and Kairi, I have plans (and many many plans for Kairi bashing!) And the way they act… I know it seems really sudden. How can they be best friends one summer and hate each other the next? Trust me it can happen. I've experience it personally. I'm taking so much stuff out on Sora. It's nothing now but later Oh yes later… Sora's my little whore… Oh in the fluffy scene with Cloud and Sora with the tear wiping and such, I just wanted Cloud to screw Sora then and there. But it's too soon damn it! I really can't wait to get to some good stuff. Someone needs to be beaten up and good.

Please be kind don't litter and review!

Edit: fixed some spelling and grammatical errors -11-28-05


	5. Chapter 5

You Could be the Reason

Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I once tried to convince a complete stranger that I owned Kingdom Hearts… Sadly I do not.

Author Notes: I'm working on this in between work, sudden urges to go outside and do something, and attempting to do some art work… The good news though is that I was accepted at school Yay! No more of sitting on my ass wishing I was there; I'm a college student now! Or soon to be one at least… officially.

* * *

_Sora's Pov_

Sora woke up early in the morning to the sound of his mother knocking on his door. Rolling over slowly he glanced at his clock, 6:05 the numbers glared back at him in the dark. Groaning inwardly Sora mused at how nice it would have been to sleep in on his birthday. Choosing to ignore the pounding on his door he rolled over and closed his eyes trying his best to pretend that the insistent banging wasn't there.

"Sora Hun, Your Grandfathers on the phone he wants to wish you a happy birthday." She paused listening for a response. "And if you don't get out here you're not going to have another one."

Sora wasn't sure if she meant that he wouldn't have a happy birthday again or a birthday period. He finally gave into her threats and stumbled out of bed. Sleepily he clutched the phone when his mother handed it to him out in the hall. His Grandfather was known for his early morning calls; it wasn't like he lived in a different time zone or anything. In fact he only lived on the mainland in Traverse Town. It had been like this since his wife, Sora's grandmother, had passed away several years ago.

"Good morning Grandpa." Sora greeted, holding back a yawn.

"Mornin' Sora. I had yer birthday written down on the calendar I thought I'd give yeh a call and wish you a happy day." His grandfather said in his rough voice.

"Thank you Grandpa."

"Now tell me yeh plan on going out somewhere tonight don't yeh?"

"Yeah, I don't know where though."

"Who ya going with? Your girlfriend?"

"Wha? No, I don't have a girlfriend Grandpa. I'm going with…" Sora didn't really want to call Cloud his boss, it made the occasion feel awkward. "A friend." Yes that was defiantly a better title.

"Well that's good, Now remember before yeh go to bed make sure to drink lots of water, prevents hangovers that does, and make sure to eat while your out, and don't act like an idiot." Sora's grandfather's words of wisdom, also famous just like the morning calls.

"I'll make sure I do that Grandpa. No I won't act up. Yes Grandpa, talk to you later." Sora hung up the phone and tossed his mother an angry look. "Couldn't you have told him to call back later?"

"Well I couldn't do that, at least you're up now." Sora's mother half explained.

"Not for long." Sora turned to head back to his room and was stopped by his mothers hand on his shoulder.

"But if you go back to bed you'll miss breakfast… Your favorite chocolate chip pancakes."

"Why do I have this sneaking suspicion that Grandpa didn't call here but you called him so you'd have an excuse to wake me up?"

Sora's mother just smiled.

* * *

_Cloud's Pov_

Cloud squinted as he looked out his window; his apartment had windows that had an annoying tendency to let in the morning light in un-natural amounts. Cloud hated it, sadly that was the reason why he picked this particular apartment in the first place. The early morning sunlight was some of his favorite lighting during the day since it seemed to be a rare thing to see. Usually since he was either asleep or at work, today however it seemed to be an exception, and now he found himself attempting to see anything out of the overly bright windows.

There was a rattle of keys behind him, he didn't bother to turn around he knew who it was. "You know you'll go blind if you keep doing that." Leon's cool voice drifted over to Cloud.

"Yeah, I guess." Cloud didn't bother to even try to look away. Leon had been his roommate now for nearly two years, though it didn't seem like it since the stoic individual seemed to only be at home early in the morning and late at night. There had been a few occasions were Cloud had wondered how Leon managed to fuel himself on such little sleep.

"Strife?" Leon was beside Cloud now. "Are you okay? Did she call again?"

Cloud only shook his head in response, indeed it was an unusual morning. It wasn't often that Cloud said less then Leon. Cloud actually wasn't sure what was bugging him, he remembered waking up and sitting down and staring out the window watching the sun rise. He hadn't even bothered to try to make any sort of breakfast. He felt like there was a pit in his stomach, a large empty void that food would somehow make worse. He felt maybe slightly sick? No that wasn't it…

"Have you eaten anything yet?"

Again Cloud shook his head; Leon shrugged and disappeared into the kitchen. Cloud knew next time he reemerged he would be carrying some sort of breakfast for Cloud. Leon quite often seemed like a distant cold person but Cloud knew the warmth that was hidden behind Leon's icy exterior. In fact if it wasn't for Leon Cloud was sure that he would never have been able to move on from his breakup with Arieth. The two roommates knew each other better than any other person. Cloud felt a small smile cross his face, even if it was a brief one.

Of course he had been right Leon was now standing between Cloud and the window holding out a piece of toast for Cloud munching on one himself. "Only one piece? You cheep bastard." Cloud said as he took the toast and took a bite.

"You don't look like you could eat much more right now…" with that he turned and exited the room.

Yep, it was eerie just how well Leon knew him. Normally Cloud would have inhaled anything made for him by Leon but this simple slice of bread felt like sandpaper in his mouth.

* * *

_Sora's Pov_

Sora inwardly groaned when he looked at the clock again. It was just past eleven in the morning. It seemed to be taking forever for the evening to come. He stared at the wall clock willing it to move faster.

"You know Sora I think this might be something along the lines of a watched pot never boils…" Sora's mother said as she looked at her son slumped over the kitchen table.

"…What does a pot have to do with this?"

"You know for a bright kid you can be pretty dense. Go outside and do something get some fresh air enjoy your youth etcetera etcetera." She said rolling her eyes and returned to her office.

Sora sighed deciding that maybe since it was such a nice day and such he might be able to enjoy some of the island weather. Soon enough he found himself wandering down toward the beach, the usual hangout for pretty much everyone on the island, surely he would be able to find at least one person he could have a conversation with to help pass the time.

The beach was never usually too crowded, the tourists seemed to stick to the larger land masses that made up the chain of islands called Destiny Islands, and since it was mostly the locals it was a comfortable place to go with friends or go for walks with that special someone. No one ever objected if you wanted to wander along the shallow surf water by yourself, and several of the older residents lived along the shore, they always had a good story or two to tell. It was a place Sora loved to go; particularly at night when the water turned a murky black. It was mysterious at night a perfect place and time for anyone who loved to let their imagination roam.

Sora had spent several nights camped out on the beach. They had elaborated on games and told stories. Sora grinned when he saw the surf he would have to thank his mother for giving him the idea of getting out of the house. He spotted a few people he knew from school though he did nothing more than wave at them, as he made his way down to the water. Sora hadn't exactly dressed for the beach so he decided against going for a swim. Instead he removed his shoes and waded into the water; clutching his worn yellow sneakers in his hands.

The cool water felt great against his warm ankles and Sora wished even harder that he had thought to at least bring along his swim trunks. As he wandered farther into the water he felt pity in the back of his mind for those people in the world who had to go swimming in chlorine filled swimming pools. The waves were just starting to wet the bottom of his shorts when he figured he should head back toward the beach. The water was great sure but it didn't hold the greasy treasures of the boardwalk.

Sora had made his way back into the shallower waters that were only a danger to wetting his ankles again, when he spotted Peter and his gang. Sure they were all younger kids but Sora always loved hearing stories of their adventures. Officially they were known as Peter Pan and the lost boys, even though Pan wasn't Peter's last name nor did he know how to play the pan flute. And the lost boys were never lost they knew the islands better than anyone else in there generation.

"Hey Peter," Sora greeted.

Peter grinned at Sora. "Sora you're just in time, we're just starting to make preparations to head out to the play island. We're going treasure hunting."

"Yeah, an' we know exactly where to dig this time. We'll be rich as soon as we find all those jewels." Tibb's one of the lost boys said excitedly.

"And don't forget the pounds and pounds of gold!" Another lost boy interjected.

"How many times have you guys gone looking for treasure on that island and come back empty handed? I've lost count." Sora said amused by their childish antics. Once upon a time this was Sora and his friends. Planning adventures and dreaming up crazy antics.

"We're sure about it this time aren't we boys?" Peter said, the entire group obviously agreeing with everything the 'mighty pan may say.'

"Sora you an' Riku used to go looking for pirate treasure too." Yet another lost boy said as he forced his way to the front.

"Sure when we were kids, but…"

"Exactly and just because you didn't find it you gave up on it! You'll be sure sore once we find it and become millionaires." The same boy exclaimed thrusting one arm in the air in a sign of triumph.

"Don't worry Sora," Peter said. "We'll put you in for a share."

"What! You'll do no such thing we're the ones who put in all the work of finding it!" One of the lost boys exclaimed. He was larger, defiantly had some girth to him, Sora thought that his name was tubby it was hard to tell because there were so many boys and none of them went by there real names.

Several boys started to express there opinion at the same time. With cries like "Yeah that's right!" and "Why should he be allowed in?" being heard amongst the noise that the young boys were making.

"'Cause Sora had been looking for the treasure long before we even were allowed down to the beach by ourselves!" Sora could always count on Peter (the oldest) to defend him against the swarm of rowdy boys.

"Thanks Peter." Sora said relieved by the quiet that had fallen around them now that the boys had all stopped talking at once.

"No prob, so you wanna come?"

"I think I'll pass today, maybe next time okay?" Sora said suddenly not wanting to put up with that many young kids right now.

"Sure thing that is if we don't find it today, which we will!"

Sora finished up his conversation with Peter and the lost boys before his stomach urged him toward the boardwalk.

* * *

_Cloud's Pov_

Cloud groaned as he looked at the last of the paperwork in front of him. He had managed to finish most of it off last night but had decided to leave the last bits to the next day. At least he had managed to pull himself out of the funk he had woken up in. Mentally he went over a list of everything he had to have finish for Monday morning. Payroll: done for week one, check. Inventory list, check. Employee review sheets: filled out, check. All that was left was to go through Sora's file. Sora's time at the midnight tree was quickly running out, Cloud wished he could at least hire the boy on as part time instead of this temporary shit.

Over the last couple years Cloud had met a lot of temporary workers, none of which he liked as much as Sora. The least Cloud could do for the boy was make sure his file was completed that way if he ever got an opening he could at least ask him if he wanted to come work full time.

Cloud finished looking over the file making sure that everything was complete and in place, he stretched and looked at his watch. Nearly one, far too early to be heading over to Sora's house. Cloud had been fighting the urge all day to show up on the boy's doorstep and give him a big hug and wish him a happy birthday. He knew he wouldn't be able to sit alone in his apartment with nothing to do. He couldn't even annoy Leon (One of his favorite past times) since the dark haired man had left earlier. He looked at his watch three minutes till one… He was sure time was slowing down on him again.

Cloud filed past some of the things he could do to pass the time. Turning one down after another, particularly since several of them involved Sora in several scenarios that were defiantly rated past PG-13. Yep Cloud was bored. He finally decided to get himself something to eat.

Looking through the cupboards of the small apartment kitchen Cloud could only find item after item of healthy food. Usually this wasn't a problem but right now he was defiantly not in the mood for veggies or other such nutritional bull shit. He made up his mind to head down to the beach boardwalk and get himself something there.

* * *

Sora's Pov

Yep the hotdog stands on the boardwalk was one of the best reasons to live on Destiny Islands, well maybe not everyone would think that but it was something Sora swore by. Sora loved to enjoy a hotdog while standing and talking to the vendor Zell. Unless of course it was a busy day like today, apparently Sora wasn't the only one to suddenly have a hotdog craving, Zell had his hands full with business and didn't have the time to talk to the birthday boy who was standing awkwardly with a hotdog in his hand pouting because his plan to have a friendly conversation had been dashed.

Said birthday boy found himself walking slowly alone the boardwalk simply enjoying the sun on his face. His hotdog hadn't last long enough to make it all the way to the end and Sora was contemplating going back for another one, however once he remembered the crowd he changed his mind. So back to pointless wandering, maybe he should go find Peter and the boys and see if it wasn't too late to join them. Of course he was eighteen today perhaps childish games should be left in the past. He sat down on a nearby bench and remembered what it was like way back in the day… all of a sudden he felt old.

Childhood for Sora really had started when he had met Riku for the first time. Sora remembered it clearly; his mother had dragged the then four year old Sora to a play group. Sora had been stubborn and had wanted to stay at home with his dad; his dad still lived with them then. Sora had refused to join any of the other children no matter how much his mother had pleaded him to just go say hi to one of the other children.

Sora wasn't sure if it was his mother or Riku's who had made the first call, but soon enough Sora and Riku found themselves forced into each others company. Riku it seemed didn't want to interact with the other children as well, so their mothers had planned a little get together with the two of them.

_flashback_

"Sora don't worry it'll be fun you'll love him." Sora's mother said not taking her eyes off of the road in front of her.

"I don' wanna! That's what you said about the other thing." Sora pouted from the back seat, obviously referring to the play group.

"Sora you know you can't stay at home with dad all the time he needs some time alone and you need to make friends."

Sora didn't respond he sat in the backseat unaware that his mother couldn't see his bottom lip sticking out. In his little four year old mind Sora saw this as a travesty a turn of the wills he would not could not make friends with someone his own age not when his dad was at home all alone pining for the loss of his dear little boy. Sora didn't care if what any of the other children thought about him all he knew was that he didn't like any of them.

Soon enough Sora found himself being lead to Riku's (that's what his mother had called him) room. Sora was annoyed at the incessant chatter of the two women behind him, all he wanted right now was to go home and help his dad with his office paperwork. His mother shoved him into the room then turned and closed the door behind her.

Wait! Sora was going to have to face this boy a whole year older then him alone! Indeed it was true. Sunlight was streaming though an open window and Riku was sitting on his bed glaring at Sora. Immediately Sora noticed the boy's cold blue eyes boring into him. His desire to leave was increased tenfold and he began to pound against the door begging to be let out.

_end flashback_

Strange, why would he start thinking about the time he met Riku right now. Sora turned his eyes toward the summer sky and watched the clouds slowly make their way across the sky moving at a slow barely noticeable pace. Sora remembered how terrified he had been of Riku the first time he had been forced into his presence. Neither of them wanted to make friends and until recently they had been inseparable.

flashback

Nearly an hour passed before either boy said a word to the other, five year old Riku was the first to break the silence. "You know the door isn't locked…"

"It isn't?" Sora cocked his head to the side and looked at the silver haired boy curiously trying to see if he was lying or not.

"No." Suddenly Riku's eyes didn't look so cold and Sora could have sworn he had seen a smile cross his face briefly.

"Did you just smile?" He interest in the door completely forgotten.

"No!"

"I think you did, why?" Sora had always been a curious child.

"… 'Cause you looked cute when you turned your head sideways…"

Sora was confused and again turned his head to one side. "What do you mean?"

Again there was a smile on Riku's face but this time he didn't try to hide it. "Like right now, you look like a curious puppy.

Sora paused thinking this new information over and suddenly burst out laughing, Riku caught up in the contagious act started to laugh right along side the chestnut hair boy.

Downstairs two women congratulated each other on a job well done.

_end flashback_

Sora smiled at the clouds above him. He and Riku spent nearly all their time together; Riku had been there for even the worst of times. Like the day Sora's father moved away. Both of them earned a reputation for being the best treasure hunters, the best sword fighters, the best explorers. It had always been fun. Until the day Kairi came to the island… Okay maybe Sora was taking it too far; Kairi had been his friend as well. So why was it he thought fondly of his past with Riku and cursing the day Kairi had come. Easy because if Kairi wasn't here he would still at least have Riku…

Sora's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. "Hey what do you know, look what I found."

Tearing his eyes away from the sky and to the owner of the voice perhaps a bit to fast and paled at the sight of Sean. "W-what did you find?" Sora tried tentatively, he didn't want to know the answer.

"A shrimp!" Sean picked Sora up by the collar of his shirt forcing Sora up off the bench and onto his toes. Sora gasped in surprised and closed his eyes in preparation for a sudden blow, but one never came.

* * *

_Cloud's Pov_

Cloud had picked up his lightest coat and his keys, looking forward to his excursion to the beach and decided to walk it since the weather was so desirable. He could almost taste the greasy burgers and fries already; it was a treat he rarely gave himself. Cloud exited the apartment building throwing the doors open wide, and if it wasn't for the public space and possible embarrassment he might experience if he were to suddenly burst out in a greeting for the day. Instead of exclaiming his joy for such a lovely day Cloud buried his keys in a coat pocket and left with a swing in his step.

The further away he got from his apartment and the downtown section of Destiny Island the less traffic there seemed to be. Cloud always enjoyed observing the gradual change of the concrete urban setting to the laid back suburban neighborhoods to the slow moving lazy atmosphere of the beach. Cloud walked passed rows of neatly kept cookie cutter houses of the newer developments on Destiny Island.

He had met people who were slightly disturbed by the perfect look of the architectural designed homes. Cloud however thought that they looked nice and enjoyed the friendly look that the similar homes gave. One day he'd like to live in one as well. The further alone he got the more laid back the homes seemed to get until he made it into a neighborhood that looked like the majority of all of Destiny Islands. The older homes that had probably seen a few owners, they were still well kept and looked just as friendly as the newer houses. It just wasn't the same as the newer homes; the newer ones had a spotless untouched look.

Cloud almost felt relieved when he saw the beginnings of the boardwalk not to far away, although it was a great day for a walk Cloud didn't really feel like another long one back home, maybe he could call Leon for a ride.

Cloud paused at the beginning of the boardwalk and observed the beach. For a weekend it was a little slow, not nearly as many people in the water as there normally was. Not that there usual was that many people at the beach considering the small population of the Island, or at least those who were interested in heading to the beach.

There looked to be a crowd at the food places, again usual for this time of day. People were milling around the boardwalk enjoying the company of spouses, friends, pets, even the solitary few looked content. Everyone seemed to be feeling the effects of this somehow special day, everyone that is besides the brunette currently being held up by a taller, stronger male.

Sora's normally warm blue eyes were squeezed shut a look of dread across his face. Cloud didn't know when he started to run at the two boys but he suddenly found himself grabbing the assaulter of his employee and forcing him to the ground, the boy's brown eyes wide in fear.

"What the fuck to you think you're doing?" Cloud said hoarsely.

"Who the hell are you?" He replied.

"I'm the one asking questions!" Cloud shoved him roughly forcing back up into the air a few inches and sharply to the ground again to emphasize his point.

"Cloud stop!" Sora suddenly cried out.

Cloud froze surprised by Sora sudden outburst and his grip loosened on the offenders shoulders. He took advantage of this and broke loose from Cloud and took off running. Cloud was about to go after him, but was stopped by Sora's hand on his arm. "Sora what are you doing he was going to hit you!"

"Cloud he's just a bully let him go."

* * *

Author Notes: Yay I finished it, I took longer on this chapter I wanted to make sure it was done right. My last few chapters were pretty crappy if you ask me… And I made it a decent length too. I added Sora background with Riku in there to make it a bit longer, and to get some history into it. I think I'll add some more later on.

Show your support a starving artist, review!

Edit: fixed some spelling and grammatical errors – 11-28-05


	6. Chapter 6

You Could be the Reason

Chapter Six

Disclaimer: You all know the story… I'm gonna stop now

Author Notes: Thank you all my lovely reviewers! I love you all, thank you everyone who takes the time out of your day to read my little ficlet here and particular thanks to everyone who leaves a review. Now for the ending of my last chapter… honestly I had to stop there because I wasn't a hundred percent sure on what I was going to have happen in this chapter, and to be frank, I still don't really know. I guess we'll see what's going to turn up. I did do a little prep, mostly I just drank a cooler while talking to my friend on the phone… but I do feel… open. This might be interesting.

* * *

Cloud resisted the urge to go after the punk who had threatened Sora, only because Sora was pleading with him not to. For some reason the small boy was able to hold him back. That asshole was lucky as far as Cloud was concerned. Finally he was able to turn his full attention to Sora. Sora was wearing the usual island garb; most of the island's population wore. Baggy shorts with a simple t-shirt. He looked unharmed for which Cloud was relived "You know Sora. You're far too nice."

"There really isn't a point in going after him, he never really hit me." Sora said finally letting go of Clouds arm, which he had grabbed to help restrain the far older far stronger male.

"He was going to…"

"Why don't we go get something to eat? I was thinking earlier of getting another hotdog." Sora said as he started to slowly meander away from Cloud, and the near violence that had almost ensued.

A hot dog? Cloud hadn't had a hot dog in years… so long in fact that it hadn't even occurred to him that he would be able to obtain such a thing anymore. He smiled at Sora in his oversized red t-shirt. "Sure, sounds good."

* * *

Sora and Cloud ate their hotdogs as they walked slowly toward Sora's house, fully intending to pass the rest of the afternoon there. Sora lived in one of the older homes, something Cloud had noticed the first time he had dropped the boy off there. Although Cloud had seen the outside, well maintained with a small flower garden just off the entrance stoop, he had never seen what was past the front door. The thought of being readily welcomed into Sora's home excited him somewhat. Cloud was curious to see what the boys' home would be like.

Sora was talking animatedly as they made there way up the front walk. Cloud noticed that Sora made no attempt to look for a key; did he always leave his door wide open? Or was someone home right now? Perhaps his parents.

Very easily Sora turned the brass door knob, and just like that Cloud had entered into a whole new realm of Sorahood. Sorahood? That was it Cloud was defiantly loosing it, Sorahood wasn't even a word. Sora gave Cloud the simple instruction of take you shoes off, Sora himself already doing so as Cloud looked curiously around. On his left was a living room, it looked like it wasn't used all that often. The walls were painted out in a neutral light brown, which looked sharp with the colourful furniture placed haphazardly around the room. In front of the window was a cat stand. "You have a cat?" Cloud asked mildly curious.

"Used to, his name was Mickey. Mom keeps that thing around because she misses him so much. He died a few years ago actually." Sora explained as he led the sock footed Cloud into the kitchen.

"Was he old?" Cloud said as he continued to gawk around.

"Yeah, he was around sixteen years I think he was older then me when he died. Mom put him down because his kidneys were failing and he developed cancer in his jaw. She didn't want him to suffer." Sora opened up the fridge and took a quick look inside.

"You want anything to drink? We have soda's downstairs."

"Nah, I'm good." Cloud was preoccupied looking around the kitchen. The back wall looked like it had been knocked down and replaced with a small sun room. Judging from the floor level it looked like it was sagging off the house, defiantly showing its age. In front of that was a white kitchen table, if you were to sit on the side closest to the sunroom you'd be able to see the front door. The walls were painted a light blue-green and one wall had a textured finish that set off a small white display shelf. The kitchen itself was divided from the dining area by an attached island and low hanging cupboards. The dated flooring and appliances were the only major things in the area (besides the sunroom) that showed the houses age, despite all the obvious effort that had gone into bringing the old home into the new century.

"Cloud? You all right? You seem really out of it." Sora said as he casually leaned against a kitchen counter supporting a large old microwave.

"Yeah, just having a good look around." Cloud said still absorbing in all the details. The long vine that grew from the top of a buffet and hutch that made it's way almost entirely around the kitchen and dining area, The vase of flowers sitting on the kitchen table, the straw holder that appeared to be holding licorice. "…is that a straw holder?" Cloud asked as he looked at the object sitting inconspicuously on the counter.

Sora nodded. "Dad got it cheep from a little café that closed on the mainland, grandpa picked it up for us and brought it down last time he came for a visit. Want one?" Very easily Sora picked the object up and lifted the lid, bringing up with it all the licorice that was inside.

Cloud chose one and began to nibble on the one end. "Good idea, never seen that anywhere else."

Sora grinned. "So you wanna tour or what?"

Cloud nodded his head seeing as how his mouth was full of licorice. He truly was curious to see the house that Sora called home.

"I'll start with the basement." Sora said as he led Cloud down two flights of stairs. "It's a big house considering its just mom and me."

"Your dad doesn't live here?" Cloud asked.

"Nah, Mom and him got a divorce a couple of years ago, he lives in traverse town with Grandpa now … … … he didn't even call to wish me a happy birthday…" Sora stuck his bottom lip out into a pout.

"He's got a lot of nerve. If I had a son like you I'd call just about every day."

"For some reason I couldn't see you with a son ever." Sora said laughing to himself. "Or kids in general."

"Hey what's that suppost to mean, I like kids." Cloud said jokingly defensive, truth be told he couldn't see himself with children either.

Sora continued on with the tour, the basement was pretty much empty. It held another fridge (which Sora explained only held drinks, like soda or juice bottles, sometimes an extra milk jug or two) and an upright freezer. There was an old computer that looked to be sitting on an equally old desk. Up one level was a den, which held the only TV Cloud had seen in the house so far, with over stuffed blue furniture and two large built in bookshelves each on either side of a brick fireplace. The room looked warm and comfortable, the perfect place to curl up to watch a good movie. The third level up from the basement was the kitchen and living room which Sora skipped entirely seeing as how Cloud had already seen it. Instead he led Cloud straight up to the upper and last level in the old four level split.

"The bedrooms and Mom's office are up here." Sora explained as he made his way up the staircase, one hand lightly resting on an oak banister obviously a newer addition to the house. "We spend most of our time up here, me in my room and Mom in her office."

Cloud was entranced by the family pictures that hung on the wall making a makeshift gallery on the diagonal surface. The landing was painted the same colour as the living room, there were four white painted doors. One on his left, two on his right, and one at the straight ahead of him. Sora explained that the door on the left was his mom's room and he made no attempt to open the door. Cloud could see for himself that the room at the end was a bathroom, supporting what looked like yellow fixtures.

Sora opened the first door on the left. "This is mom's office." He said as he made his way in.

Mom of course happened to be in the room at the time. She looked up from the computer monitor at Sora's intrusion, looking a little flustered. "Sora I though I told you to go out and waste your time down at the beach or something."

Sora grinned and allowed Cloud to enter. "Mom this is Cloud, Remember you've seen him at the store a few times right?"

She jumped up from her worn chair and took Clouds hand in both of hers. "Of course I remember Mr. Strife." She said with a grin. Cloud could obviously tell were Sora had gotten that trademark from, he wondered absently if that was where he had gotten his (now famous pout at the Midnight tree) from as well.

"You don't really need to call me that, Cloud is just fine." Cloud said as he attempted to free his hand, he never had been comfortable with females holding his hand like that. Minus Arieth of course, but Sora's mother hardly counted as her.

"Okay the Cloud if you want to be called that you have to call me Sora's mom…" She said before she sat back down on her chair and turned back to her computer, almost as if her comment had never been said.

Cloud scratched his head at the strange obviously neurotic woman. The turned his attention back to the room, ignoring Sora's conversation with his mother, explaining how he had come across Cloud so early in the day. Three of the walls had been painted a soft cream colour and the fourth wall was bright red. The walls held pictures of Lions, Giraffes, and Zebras. There was a small Sofa Black with a Zebra print throw draped casually across the top, and of course the white desk holding the office computer.

Suddenly Sora had grabbed a hold of Cloud hand and was directing him out of the room. Cloud hadn't even been aware of when his conversation had ended. "Last is my room." Sora said with a little excitement.

The last remaining door was opened by Sora, who strode confidently in and dropped down on the bed. Cloud looked in and was a little shocked. The walls were all painted in a light almost while lilac, the wall behind the bed supported a darker purple heart painted on with great care. The bed was a black framed futon currently folded down into a double sized bed with purple sheets and a green quilt. Next to the bed was a tall white bookshelf, stuffed full of books and even a few stuffed animals, with a running theme of lime green bears and deep purple bunnies. On the wall opposite of the bed closest to the doorway were Cloud was standing was a white dresser; on top was a TV, DVD player, and what looked to be a few game systems. Adjacent to the dresser was a white desk holding a laptop and a small shelf holding assorted Cd's. In-between both pieces of furniture was a speaker stand complete with speaker a desk lamp sitting on top. The stereo system was sitting on the floor under the window.

Cloud heard Sora giggle slightly from the bed. "Really did you have to let your jaw drop like that?"

"Sorry, it's just that… your room well it's… purple." Cloud had been expecting maybe a blue, maybe more of the neutral brown like downstairs but…purple.

"What you don't like it? I'm quite fond of it. You're not going to raise a stink about it like Kairi." Sora raised his voice a few octaves impersonating a female voice. "Purple but that's a girl colour Sora, you can't have a purple room."

Cloud chuckled at Sora horrible impersonation. "Actually…" He took one last look around examining everything, including the heart on the wall. "I think it's not that bad, it sorta does suit you."

"What's that suppost to mean?" Sora said in mock indignation.

Cloud burst out laughing and dropped down next to Sora on the boys' bed. The afternoon passed with the ease of two friends who equally felt like they had known the other their whole life.

* * *

Finally it was approaching evening Cloud and Sora could be found still up in Sora's room were they had spent the afternoon, laughing and sharing stories. Currently however it was a different story. Sora was going through his closet removing different possible wardrobe choices for the evening. Sora was getting frustrated as Cloud turned down outfit after outfit. "Okay Cloud since you're so finicky about what I should wear tonight **you **can pick it out." Sora said as he stepped away from the thinning closet and gestured for Cloud to help himself.

Which he did, without hesitation Cloud started to browse casually through the remainder of Sora's clothing, and very quickly selected an appropriate outfit. Sora was a little shocked when Cloud removed the silk shirt that he had bought from the midnight tree months earlier and a pair of black pants that Sora had always believed to be too small. "There isn't that much better than the garbage you were choosing?" Cloud said, as he smiled proudly at the selection.

"Almost I grew out of those pants years ago." Sora said as he opened a drawer on his dresser, hoping to find a better pair of pants.

"Well the least you could do is try them on for me." Cloud said as he shut the drawer Sora had just opened.

"If I try them on and show you just how badly they fit you'll let me wear something else?" Sora asked tentatively, really he had no problem with the shirt. Truth be told he had almost completely forgotten about said shirt.

"Yes I promise." Cloud said as he placed his right hand above his heart in a solemn vow.

That was how Sora ended up with Cloud standing outside his door leaning casually against the wall waiting for him to 'try' the old pants on. Sora sighed as he stood in his boxers looking at the vile things. Considering that they were just a simple plain pair of slacks Sora had never liked the things from day one. Why there were still in his closet was beyond him. Deciding to do it quickly and get it done with Sora pulled the pants up his legs then stopped at his hips. While Sora didn't nearly have the hips of a girl… he still had a hard time getting them up past that point.

Sora after jumping around trying to get the pants (or death trap as he now liked to call them) managed to get them on over his hips. Sora quickly opened the door to show Cloud the outfit so he would be able to get into more comfortable pants. Cloud was standing there arms behind his back grinning from ear to ear.

"There you saw the pants you happy now?" Sora said,

"Yes, very." Cloud said still grinning.

"Fine, I'm going to get different pants on now." Sora said with finality and went to close the door. However Clouds grip made him stop and turn around.

"Wait let me get a better look." Cloud forced Sora into the room and closed the door behind him. He moved Sora to the center of the room and took in the boy's appearance. Sora felt a little nervous at the critical attention.

Cloud took in everything, the blue button up shirt that emphasized the boys vividly blue eyes. The shoes Sora had selected and put to the side and most importantly, the black slacks. They hugged Sora's thighs, hips, and ass like a second skin, flaring just slightly near the bottom, defiantly a boot cut Cloud thought to himself.

"So can I get rid of them now?" Sora said interrupting Clouds thoughts.

"Nope."

"What! I'm not wearing these things." Sora said nearly pouting.

"You just need to lose those boxers and you'll be good to go." Cloud said as he left the room and the boy to his business.

Sora's face was red, but he did what he was instructed and shortly after they left for Cloud's apartment.

* * *

Cloud had aimed for a small pub; he didn't want to overwhelm Sora on his first time out with a loud club where he and the boy would have a hard time having a conversation. Cloud knew the pub well, occasionally he and Leon would go there for a few drinks that is when Leon felt like it, has the time, or has no excuse to get out of a drinking date with Cloud. Currently Cloud and Sora were located in Leon's very conservative car, small fuel efficient, nothing spectacular. But it did do what Leon wanted; it got him from point A to point B.

Cloud sat in the front seat chatting aimlessly to Leon, who was gripping the steering wheel tightly. Sora wondered from the backseat if he was imagining strangling Cloud. Sora had liked Leon from the moment he had first met him, he was quiet, reserved, mature, just the kind of person Sora's mother would be able to entrust getting the boy back home in one piece. She would be happy to hear about him. Of course there was the highly amusing banter going back and forth between Leon and Cloud. …It was a little one sided seeing as how Cloud did most of the bantering and Leon would simply brush it off, dropping to occasional insult or rude remark, never failing to send Sora into a fit of giggles. This in return would award Cloud with a smug smirk from the dark haired man.

They pulled up outside a small building. It was a simple wooden structure with a cedar shingle roof. A bright pink neon sign sat haphazardly on the roof, Sora guess that it had seen several tropical storms, quiet proudly displaying the bars name 'Fiji's Island Pub'. Cloud had grabbed Sora by his arm and pulled him up to the heavy metal door, the only entrance into the place.

However Leon stopped. "I think I'll go home you can just call me when you're ready to come home." He turned to leave but was quickly stopped when Cloud abandoned Sora's arm and instead grabbed a hold of Leon.

"You can't bail on us! It's going to be fun, besides who's going to be the reasonable sensible one then?" Cloud said almost whining.

Leon rolled his eyes and looked to Sora. "I can't besides I don't think Sora would appreciate me being there very much, I'm essentially a stranger remember?"

"I don't mind really, it would be fun if you were there too!" Sora said, suddenly keen on the idea.

"Fine." Leon said giving in, causing Cloud to celebrate. "But I'm not drinking anything since I'm still our ride home."

Finally they entered the bar and Sora was officially allowed into his first place of established drinking, well almost. Sora was stopped short by a tall muscular figure blocking his path; Sora looked up at a strong clefted chin, high cheek bones, broad shoulder, and a shimmering white smile. "Sorry son, no minors allowed. I'm sure you understand but you must leave."

"It's okay Gaston, it's his birthday. Sora's eighteen today." Cloud said attempting to brush past the tall man.

Suddenly Sora noticed another figure; he was short, plump, and barely came up to Gaston's waist. Sora was even more shocked by his voice. Unlike Gaston's whose was a rich baritone his was a peculiar high pitched raspy tone, quite annoying. "Hey Gaston don't worry about this riff-raff I'll take care of him."

"Good work Le Fou." Gaston said as he turned to head back to the bar.

Said Le Fou grabbed Sora by the arm and tried to pull him toward the door. "Hey wait Gaston." Said Cloud trying to argue with the obviously stubborn man. "It's his birthday today you can't just throw him out."

"Shouldn't you check my Id or something?" Sora asked Le Fou who still had a firm grip on his arm.

"I dunno, what do you think Gaston?" Le Fou asked the taller man, apparently the one in charge.

"Hmm…" Gaston said rubbing his chin in thought overdramatically. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Go a head Le Fou have a look at it."

Sora pulled his arm away and fished his learner's license out of his pocket. Le Fou looked at it closely, finally he made a noise. "Ahh, Mmm"

"What does that mean?" Sora asked moving his nose in closely.

"Ah Ha!" Le Fou said shifting his right arm into the air, in a look of triumph. "It says right here, under eighteen! Therefore you're not allowed in!"

"Wait a second." Leon said pulling Sora's Id out of Le Fou's hand. "See right there?" Leon said pointing to the Id. "That's today's date isn't it?" Le Fou nodded his head in agreement. "Right so he was under eighteen until today, and that would mean?"

"Uh, that… today's… his birthday?" Le Fou said slowly, obviously not sure of his answer since Gaston had left him to go back behind the bar.

"Correct." Leon said handing Sora back his Id. Cloud took advantage of the situation and quickly led Sora to a booth. Near the back, Leon joined them shortly after chasing Le Fou away.

"So Sora welcome to Fiji's." Cloud said as he sat down next to Sora on the booth, Leon taking his place across the table.

Sora was finally able to have a good look around, which he did; the inside certainly didn't look like an island pub, or anything that should be called Fiji's. The walls were all wood paneled, the floor was done in a hardwood that matched the colour of the walls. One wall housed a huge fireplace, complete with huge fire, and the entirety of the wall around it was covered in antlers and deer heads. The bar was on the wall opposite of were the trio were currently sitting, it was a massive fixture upholstered in brown leather. It seemed nothing at all like an island pub besides the fact that it was located on a tropical Island.

"You guy's drink here all the time?" Sora asked suddenly very wary of the almost stranger and friend/boss.

Leon surprisingly chuckled. "It certainly doesn't seem like the kind of place we would go to does it?"

Sora shook his head, perhaps there was something special about this place to make up for its overly masculine interior and rude staff.

"It's fun to pick on Le Fou though." Cloud said opening up a drink menu.

"It's also highly entertaining to watch Cloud and Gaston after Cloud's had a few drinks." Leon interjected.

It was going to be an interesting night Sora thought as he looked at his own menu. Suddenly a pretty waitress was asking them if they knew what they would like to drink. Sora looked up over his menu to look at her. She was blonde, wearing a dress with a revealing neck line exposing her shoulders, her eyes were a deep brown and she was smiling at them warmly. Her attention turned to Sora, "What can I get for you Hun?"

"Uh…" Sora had never ordered an alcoholic drink before.

* * *

Author Notes: So I'll leave it off at that, I know your all going 'Aw come on! You can't leave it there!' but I do have some good plans for the next two chapters, I do believe that you'll enjoy them… bwahaha (evil plans) And since it was a long-er time before I updated this I am pleased to announce that I will be opening my journal up as semi-friends only. Meaning I'll post entries in letting you know if I'll be updating early or late or in-between. I also have ideas for bonus chapters were I might just possibly give tidbits of information about. Or for the curious few who also have accounts at LJ you could leave a note and I'll add you to my friends list… if you want to read about the minor details in my life. It can be found at… had to look up Le Fou's name; I went so far as sitting down and watching the entirety of Beauty and the Beast trying to catch his name. Every time Gaston said it I was like 'what come again?' I actually once had a cat named Mickey, he had cancer in his jaw and his kidneys were failing. He died when I was still in elementary school. Yep based on a true story that one, only we have more cats' now, three to be precise. Anyway be nice and leave me a little review.

Edit: fixed some spelling and grammatical errors – 11-28-05


	7. Side Story Kairi and Riku 1

You Could be the Reason

Side Story 1

Author Notes: Yep you've read that right, side story! I'm so mean so many people want to see Sora and Cloud get all fluffy or angsty or something to that extent, and I'm just putting it off. I'm sorry and I'll tell you now it's still going to be a while until you see some action in that department.

Anyway This Side Story is going to deal with Riku and Kairi, since I need more of that in here to clear stuff up and etc.

* * *

Riku sat across the table from his girlfriend Kairi listening absently as she went on about some party someone was planning to throw, something about what she was going to wear… or something. He really wasn't paying any attention. Instead it was focused across the food court at two clowns, Tidus and Wakka to be precise. Riku had once been there friends in fact he had once been very close to them, and he knew that they would be leaving soon to there blitzball camp and would be leaving Sora behind and alone… for the first time ever.

However now was not the time to be concerned about Sora, no, right now he needed to concentrate on Kairi and her feeble problems. He turned his Aqua eyes to her, she was still chatting vividly and her long hair sat peacefully on her shoulders. Recently she had started wearing shorter skirts and her tops seemed be constantly getting a lower and lower cut. Riku didn't like other people looking at her, he wasn't sure if that was the jealous boyfriend speaking in his head or the protective friend.

He shook his head in confusion; it had been like that lately. What was Kairi to him, had he started dating her to protect her from other boys, or was it just to beet Sora to the punch, or did he truly desire her? Finally Kairi's sugary voice broke through his thoughts. "No? You don't think I should wear my green top… well, I guess that would be a little cliché. Since everyone seems to be wearing that colour now-a-days. Blue tank it is, thanks Riku you're such a great boyfriend!"

"Huh? Oh, you're welcome… I guess." Riku said blinking slowly in confusion.

"Selphie wanted to go shopping later today, you want to come along?" Kairi asked sweetly.

Riku shook his head, "No I think I should head home and get some… stuff done." Riku looked back over his shoulder once more glancing at two of his former friends. "In fact my parents were expecting me home early today. I should be going have fun shopping with Selphie."

Kairi smiled sweetly, "What no kiss farewell?"

Riku leaned over the table and quickly planted a short kiss on the corner of her mouth and left without looking back once.

Riku, who had originally planned to pester Wakka and Tidus, ended up changing his mind as soon as they came into his sight again. Instead he turned back around and headed home. His feet seemed to travel on their own accord as he moved past familiar buildings and concrete pathways, allowing his mind to wander to it own extent. Lately it seemed that Kairi had been letting this whole popularity thing get to her head. She had no desire to go see any of her old friends, and she had brushed Riku off when he had suggested getting together with the old gang at the play island to celebrate the end of the school year like they always did. Also the way she had been dressing lately… sure it was nice at first, when it had been the two of them going out for dates, simple stuff like going to see a movie or a simple dinner out. Lately though, it seemed to be getting to him. Kairi used to be a little angel, now it seemed she had transformed into an evil temptress.

Wait, if that was true and she was a temptress, why wasn't he tempted? Actually Riku had wondered before why her parents had even allowed such a thing. Riku knew he'd never get away with anything like that… not that he'd start wearing thongs and mini skirts… Riku's parents had asked on many occasions why they hadn't seen Sora around. Once Riku's mother had even gone so far as to start day dreaming about the two of them when they were little, before Kairi had come around, before Kairi needed to be protected from the other island boys, before Riku had become so confused…

Life seemed to be getting so complicated and getting worse. It was driving Riku nuts that he hadn't seen Sora since the school year had ended. At least in school he could keep his eye on Sora and know what was going on with him. Riku was torn, Kairi seemed so happy with all her new friends. They all seemed to accept him, and he was sure that more then a few of them had a crush on him. No one wanted Sora around, no one seemed interested, well no one except Riku that is. He needed to stay around his girlfriend and make sure she was safe; at least he knew that Sora could defend himself.

Before Riku knew it, his feet had delivered him to his front door and were waiting for him to unlock the door. Good old dependable feet at least they would never leave him left alone in a state of pure confusion. Riku just wished he could bring Sora along with him and that his new friends would accept him. Riku sighed as he unlocked his front door. If only Kairi understood how he felt, if she knew…would she break up with him?

Riku decided to soak his misery away. He headed straight up the stairs past his parents bedroom and into the bathroom, silently thanking the heavens that his parents weren't going be home until later that evening. He started the water running, checking to make sure it was filling at the correct temperature. This was something that Riku had always done, whenever he needed time to think he would fill up the bathtub sometimes throwing in some scented oils, or bubbles. It was something his older brother (long since moved out) had teased him about, calling him girly. Riku had never paid any attention to it, even though he was pretty feminine when he was younger.

Riku grinned as he eased himself into the warm water thinking back to those days. There had been a few of his classmates who had believed he actually was a girl. But his petite figure and long silver hair hadn't helped much. Sora had been the one to stand up for him. Luckily the only thing Kairi knew about this was the stories others had to tell her. When she had first arrived on the island he was a little older and had developed a bit.

Leaning back into the tub Riku closed his eyes and let his thoughts wander, shifting and flowing like the waves weaving in and out of the past. Almost like his own mind wanted to keep something shrouded and hidden from himself. His house was silent and there was no sound other then his own soft breathing and the slow drip of the water falling from the tap into the tub. It was a relaxing setting and Riku wished he could just sit there and let the world wander away. It was so much better there in his old tub, so much better away from all of the people, all of his problems, the worries, stress …the new friends…

* * *

Kairi was sprawled across her bed, her phone was held loosely in her hand. It wasn't fair, Riku wasn't answering (she had tried twice already), Sean was at work as usual, Selphie was at a family affair, and everyone else seemed to be busy. So here she was stuck alone in a stupid boring house. She sighed as she rolled over, and sat up. Perhaps this was a good time to go through all the junk she had stashed away in her closet. Although she would much rather talk to Riku. She decided to try again; she punched in the numbers she had long ago memorized, and listened to the all familiar ring tones. Her heart leapt as this time Riku answered, "What do want Kairi?"

"Riku!" She squealed out in excitement. "I just wanted to talk; it's so boring over here. I was even thinking about getting rid of some junk in my closet I was so bored."

"So you called because you were bored?" Riku asked he sounded a bit impatient.

"I always call you when I'm bored, you're my boyfriend remember?"

"Yeah, I know. But isn't there anyone else you could call? I'm a little busy at the moment."

"Aww Riku, I've already tried calling everyone else. Why do you have to be so mean?" Kairi whined into the receiver.

Riku sighed in frustration on the other end. "Bye Kairi." And with that Kairi was left alone to be bored until someone else returned her calls. Which actually didn't very much time, before long she was chatting away on her trendy new phone blissfully unaware of what Riku was busy doing.

* * *

One hour earlier

Riku got out of his fragrant bath, the light scent of almond still clinging to his skin from the oils he had put in the water earlier. The tips of his fingers were just starting to wrinkle, a sure sign that he had been sitting in the water long enough. With merely a towel hung around his hips he entered his bedroom and deposited the clothes he had been wearing earlier onto the floor in an ungraceful heap. He collapsed onto his bed, mind still wandering screaming questions at him.

His time in the bath gave him the escape that he needed to wander away from even himself. Leave the new pretentious Riku behind and explore back into the Riku he used to be. Old Riku had interrogated new Riku demanding answers asking question after question, even before new Riku even had a chance to defend himself.

Why was he being forced to choose between Kairi and Sora? What had happened that the three of them could no longer get along? Why was he so lost in his own home, his own island, the place he had always felt so comfortable?

Riku thought back, back to the day he had first asked Kairi out. It had been only a few months into the school year, everything was normal. Kairi, Sora, and himself would spend all there time together dreaming there childish dreams, talking about how when they were older they would all move out together and move to Traverse Town. However that one day that day those words came out of his mouth everything changed.

He couldn't even remember why he had asked her in the first place. "Kairi would you go out with me?" Riku said out loud mocking himself. He sighed, closed his eyes, and stretched out across his bed. After the two of them got together they spent more time around each other, slowly pushing Sora away. It had only been a few days when Sean and his cronies first approached the new couple and asked if they wanted to have lunch with them.

Riku remembered just how excited Kairi had been, how much she talked about spending that one insignificant hour with the islands 'in' crowd. It had made him so happy to see her smiling like that, but the grim expression on Sora's face would have broke his heart if he had seen it that day.

Time seemed to move so fast and before Riku had even known it he and Kairi were spending every lunch hour with there new crowd, but not just lunch but after school, weekends… all the time. During that time Riku believed he was brainwashed, he believed that the only way he would be able to keep his own friends was to lose the old ones. That was why he had been so mean to Sora in school that was why he had to make it up to the boy somehow. Sora the one who would always hold a special place in his heart, the one who he was so sorry for hurting like that, the one he never wanted to be away from, the one… he loved?

Quickly Riku flopped over to his stomach burying his head into the pillow. This was it, this is why he was getting so frustrated lately. Every time he thought about Sora and how he would apologize to him, his own mind turned on him and threw him into this confused chaos. Apologizing to Sora was something he had to do, and soon, but what was the best way to go about it?

The sound of his phone ringing interrupted his thoughts; Riku lifted himself up onto all fours so he would be able to see whose number was on the call screen. Briefly he hoped that it was Sora wondering if he wanted to go down to the beach. Of course that hope didn't last long, Sora hadn't called him in months and anyway it was Kairi's number on the screen. Choosing to ignore it he let his chest fall back onto the bed, leaving him in a very embarrassing position if anyone were to walk in on him at the moment. For he was now laying on his bed with his bottom sticking up in the air. A position he had seen Sora in many times over the years. It was something he did a lot when he was waking up in the morning. Riku smiled gently as he remembered a particular morning Sora did that, he had looked so cute with his but sticking up in the air mumbling some sort of an excuse so he wouldn't have to go to school. That was the morning Riku had contented himself to watch and see how long it would take the boy to get up on his own accord. Usually Sora's mother always sent Riku in to wake him up and make sure that he was getting ready for school, it was a task he had never minded. That morning was special to Riku because it was the morning that Riku had realized just how much that the boy meant to him, the morning he realized his feelings… love?

Riku froze, there it was again. That feeling, did Riku really love Sora? Was he so blinded by his need to protect Kairi that he had totally neglected his best friend the one that he really loved? So blinded that he had neglected even his own feelings? Riku needed to know the truth. Did he love Sora? Was there something physical that might be there? Slowly he sat up as this truth dawned on him. Had he made the wrong choice? He needed to know…

He glanced around the room, suddenly feeling guilty although he hadn't done anything wrong. He looked at his clock, the red numbers indicating that it was still afternoon. In the back of his mind he could hear old Riku, telling him it's okay. _This is natural it happens to people all the time, they won't be home until tonight…_ That was right his parents they weren't due back for a couple of hours. He wouldn't take long.

New Riku gave control up to old Riku, slowly very slowly he inched his hands towards his towel allowing the tips of his fingers to travel under the soft material. His breath was shallow, new Riku was still uncertain, new Riku needed to know for sure that this was okay, that this wasn't wrong. However he didn't make it far before the phone rang again. New Riku was pleased about this interruption, old Riku was furious. For the second time he looked at the call display. Kairi again, he was tempted to pick up instead his mind was full of what he had almost done and instead of picking the phone up he stared at it. The ringing stopped and still he stared at it, he wasn't sure when he had started but suddenly Riku was aware that he was shaking.

Still unsure he laid back down resting his head on his pillow staring up at the ceiling. He closed his eyes, sure now, and gave total control over to old Riku. He felt himself removing the towel exposing all of him to the room. His mind drifted on Clouds thinking about old times, thinking about Sora. He felt his hand caress his own thigh teasingly move his fingertips around the soft skin moving closer to his ever hardening member. Riku gasped as he grabbed himself his mind and imagination telling him it was Sora. The warmth of his hands Sora's hands enveloped him.

Somewhere new Riku protested, but there was now way old Riku was going to go back now. Old Riku knew that even new Riku wanted this and that the two of them weren't really all the different.

Riku moaned, the friction and warmth of the blankets under him were irresistible. He only wished that Sora really was there with him, what he wouldn't give to feel Sora skin to run his hands over his developing muscles, to have Sora do the same to him. Riku wanted to make this last he didn't want to waste this, old Riku knew that new Riku wouldn't let him do this sort of thing very often.

For the third time the phone rang. Riku growled out with impatience, he wanted to make it stop now was the worst possible time. He turned over and saw that it was Kairi, **again. **Impatiently he picked up the phone.

"What do you want Kairi?" He said hoping that she would leave him alone very soon.

"Riku! I just wanted to talk; it's so boring over here. I was even thinking about getting rid of some of the junk in my closet I was so bored." Great this was just what he needed; she always talked for hours if she called when she was bored. Usually that wasn't so much of a problem. But right now…

"So you called because you were bored." Riku was getting more than a little impatient. He was silently hoping that she had called with some kind of reason.

"I always call you when I'm bored, you're my boyfriend remember?"

"Yeah, I know. But isn't there anyone else you could call? I'm a little… busy at the moment." Riku's mind was yelling at him, _get of the phone now get rid of her!!_

"Aww Riku, I've already tried calling everyone else. Why do you have to be so mean?" _Get rid of her, Get rid of her, Get rid of her!!_

Riku was frustrated, he sighed internally giving up and his mind was shutting down to anything even remotely Kairi. All that was left was Sora, now was the time to be rid of her. "Bye Kairi." Was all he said before returning the phone to the cradle and pulling the cord out from the wall. Now she wouldn't be able to call again.

There was something he needed to finish now, and both new and old gave in to the primal need that was rising up from within. Still sitting Riku touched himself again still picturing Sora. Sora's skin, Sora's hand, Sora's mouth. It didn't take him very long to fall back into the rhythm he had started earlier. Riku moaned as he pumped and rocked his hips. This is what he needed this is who he truly desired… he needed his Sora back in his life, but he needed to do it in a way that he could keep on protecting his girlfriend.

He felt himself building up, thoughts of Sora in altered memories drifted through his mind in front of his unseeing eyes. He felt himself coming and moaned out Sora's name at his release.

He collapsed onto the bed, not caring that he was laying on his own mess. He body was tingling its thanks. Riku was content to spend the rest of the night there, naked and satisfied. It was his clock that finally got him out of bed. It seemed to speak to him.

_'There's not much time, you need to clean up before they get here_, _feed yourself._

A little later Riku found himself sitting in the kitchen dressed and munching on a simple sandwich. The afternoon was turning into evening and Riku's head still hadn't slowed down. Thoughts of Sora and Kairi drifted in and out of his mind questions, but no answers. Absently near the back of the house he heard his parents coming in through the rear door.

* * *

It was just another normal day in the life of Kairi, Miss popular. She was sitting in the coffee house that Sean worked in sipping on her iced mocha, listening to Selphie talk about the skirt she needed to find a top to go with. Selphie was enjoying her iced mocha as well and as Kairi could tell she was getting a buzz from all of the caffeine. Selphie was such a silly girl when she was hyper.

"So what do you think about going over to the midnight tree? They've got all sorts of cute tops." Selphie asked.

Kairi nodded, "but we have to wait for Riku first he promised he'd spend the afternoon with me." She grinned. "He said he take out to the movies."

"Oooo Kairi your so lucky Riku's such a great guy. I wish I could find someone who'd treat me like he treats you." Selphie squealed into her cup.

"He only does because he's known me for so long."

"Or because he loves you so much… he's such a gentleman." Selphie said going off into dream land.

"You talking about me?"

Selphie whipped around and beamed. "Sean, thanks for the discount!"

"You only wish we were talking about you." Kairi said looking down at her drink.

"Let me guess." He switched into a high pitched voice imitating the two girls. "Sweet little Riku again?"

"Come on Sean when aren't they talking about me, what since I'm so handsome and what-not." Riku apparently had walked up with Sean.

"You wish." Was all Sean said before he started back at his work clearing tables.

"So what's the plan?" Riku asked not even bothering to sit down.

"We're going to go to the midnight tree Selphie needs a new shirt." Kairi explained offering Riku a sip of her drink.

Selphie took this as a cue to start up on what she might want her new shirt to look like. "I was thinking something in a midnight blue… maybe yellow. I love those new tank tops that are out this season, the really long ones. I should get an orange one, or purple! I love purple its only a matter of time before that colours going to come back in I tell you…"

* * *

Selphie lead the way into her and Kairi's favorite trendy store. Riku had been in there a few times and so far had always managed to find something to perk his interest. Something did perk his interest. Riku watched Selphie walk up to no other than Sora himself. His hands were full of several different garments and he looked a bit shocked. Immediately Riku jumped to conclusions. Did Sora believe that he was so much better then the rest of them that they couldn't shop in the same store? In the back of his mind he heard Selphie start to pick at him.

Was that a dirty look he just shot at Kairi? But Kairi was laughing… He didn't care. Riku saw red no one gave Kairi dirty looks not even Sora could go that far. Riku stormed up to Sora (who had still not said a word) using his height as an advantage Riku glowered down at the brunette. "Stay the hell away from Kairi…" he said as a warning. If it had been anyone else Riku would have pummeled them into the ground. Sora was lucky.

Next thing Riku knew someone was pushing there way in-between him and Sora. The blonde headed jerk Riku had seen working in here before. "Hey, Sora go for your break you've got half an hour. I'll cover your customers for you. You've got to take one before you're off."

So Sora worked here now? Riku watched as Sora gratefully dumped the clothes that he had been holding into the blondes arms and walked out of the store without looking back even once. Deep down Riku was hurt that he had actually just treated Sora like that… it wasn't like it was the first time either… there it goes somewhere somehow he had just died a little bit.

"He works here?" Kairi asked no one in particular and started shifting through racks of clothing. Kairi giggled and joined Selphie in her search.

* * *

Riku and Kairi had ate lunch without Selphie, and decided on skipping the movie and started to stroll around nowhere in particular. They ended up outside of the school in there usual hangout only minus a few people. Kairi was talking about something her younger sister had done to her that morning, but Riku wasn't paying attention. He was focused instead on a form walking down the street. Sora, perhaps this was a good opportunity to apologize for acting so mean earlier today. "Sora!" Riku called out to get his attention. He started walking toward him Kairi following shortly behind him. "Sora" he called again. This time he seemed to have gotten his attention.

Slowly Sora turned around. The scowl that was plastered across the younger boys face seemed almost foreign since it was directed at Riku. He wanted to say that he was sorry, but those words seemed be stuck in his throat, instead what came out was a stupid question. "Since when did you start working at the midnight tree?"

"Since I got hired there." Sora responded, was that some of Riku's attitude hidden in those few words?

"Your soooo funny Sora." Kairi giggled.

Sora rolled his eyes and the scowl seemed to have deepened on Sora's face. "I do have better things to do you know?"

"Like what? Tidus and Wakka are away, or did you magically dig up some new friends out of your back pocket?" Kairi said the sarcasm dripping off her words. Riku couldn't keep the slight smile off of his face.

"Watch it you little bitch!" Sora said venomously.

Something snapped within Riku, the apology seemed to melt into the sudden fury that welled up and burst. Riku couldn't control his actions; he raised his arm, formed his hand into a fist and slammed it right into Sora face. The younger boy was down before Riku could even begin to recognize what it was that he was doing.

"Stay away from her Sora." Riku protectively wrapped his arm around Kairi's shoulder and led her away.

* * *

Author Notes: Sorry that it took me so long to update… but I do owe a big thanks to Brandon who gave me good advice to make it through this. Thank you! I thought that I would hurry up and get this out before I left for my holiday tomorrow. Yay for camping week long nooooo work! and leave me comments Oooo 'cause I like those.

edit: removed cut.


	8. Side Story Kairi and Riku 2

You Could be the Reason

Side Story 2

Author Notes: Well I'm sorry to disappoint you again I swear this is the last side story for a while. I was just thinking I really need to clear up some of the Riku Sora stuff before I get too far into the story; I kinda need it for future chapters. It however seems to have risen more questions then before. So I'll try to address them here. Here we go the whole Riku protective over Kairi thing, simply put. Riku is a teenager raised on a small proper little island. He does have romantic feelings for Kairi and he is happy with her, and happy that she's happy. This however doesn't mean that he's happy about Sora, for he has romantic feelings for him as well but since he was raised on a little proper island I would think that his parents (all of their parents) would have enforced on them that such a thing is wrong and improper. Mix that with confusing teenage hormones and you've got Riku making some stupid decisions.

I hope that made a little sense I've been trying to get that out for a while (re-wrote this for sure at least twice) I know what I'm talking about I swear.

* * *

_Riku's Pov_

It had been a week; Riku's mother was starting to get worried. He had been refusing to come out of his room at first she thought that it must be just another phase but now she was concerned. Nothing seemed to be working; no promises of special dinners, free movie tickets, or offers to allow Kairi to spend the night would bring him out. The last one usually always worked. Absently she wondered if this was some sort of twisted guessing game and she would have to guess what exactly it was that he wanted. He had just refused to come down for dinner again; he hadn't been down for dinner all week, this horrible week.

It was a little different on the other side of the bedroom door however. Riku's room was dark lit only by the screen of his computer, where a game sat motionless long forgotten about. The cheery melody that accompanied said game contrasted with the moody teenager who was currently sitting in a pile of "stuff" sifting through a box of other "stuff". Riku had decided that he didn't like being a teenager and would spend the rest of it in his room and would only come out once people started to calm down or he was officially an adult, whichever came first.

He had made some progress, including shifting through old memories, playing old games acquired way back in Jr.High, and conversing with old friends online. One of which was Wakka, to who he had promised to attend his blitzball game. He knew he would go with or without Kairi. He owed at least that much to Wakka. The last few days he had spent looking at the things he had hidden under his bed, the drawers on his desk, in his closet, the shelves on his bookshelf, anywhere that he had stashed old notes, pictures, lent and borrowed books, games, cd's, movies. Anything really, Riku had been analyzing his behavior over the last year very carefully. He had no clue as to why he had turned his back on to his old friends, why he had spend so much time tormenting the people who used to be there every day no matter what for him.

Wakka and Tidus had done nothing as far as he could see to deserve the way he had been treating them, and yet even with all the teasing, name calling, general bulling. Wakka hadn't turned away from him; instead the two of them had conversed quite naturally online. Though Riku had gotten the impression that Tidus didn't mirror the opinion he couldn't blame him really.

Riku put the box he had been shifting through aside and grabbed another one, this one was covered entirely in writing, full of warnings to stay away, not to touch or fear the consequence. He smiled slightly at this one just the box alone brought a fresh wave of new memories He and Sora had used this box to hide their "treasures" that they found on their play island. Mostly seashells or dried starfish all of which they had found lying on the beach. The box had lived for several years in the tree house on the island, but for some reason they had decided to move it out and into Riku's home once Kairi had moved to destiny islands. …Had they been afraid that she would steal their "treasure"? Carefully Riku opened up the worn box and smiled warmly at the contents. Indeed it still housed their treasure, Riku picked up on of the small stones. Back then it had been a gem worth millions of dollars now however it was just a rock, worn smooth by the sand and waves.

He moved past several odd objects simple things they had found fascinating in their youth most of it just junk and garbage now. Underneath a dried purple starfish he found a piece of paper, folded tightly into a square. He opened it up and spread it out using the lid of the box as a flat surface to smooth the crinkles on. It was a treasure map, he and Sora had written out. Riku studied it, it showed a surprisingly detailed drawing of their island, planted on the Poupu Island was a big red X there were complicated instructions on how to reach the point indicated, starting from the dock. Riku didn't know when he had started crying but he noticed as soon as a single drop landed on the old paper with a dull splat.

Staring at that spot seemed like the only thing he could do for hours, even though in reality it had only been a few minutes. Quickly he resolved to put away this foolishness and set things right. How? He wasn't sure how he was going to do it yet. He would go to the blitzball game, he would continue to talk to Wakka online and perhaps get Tidus to turn around and forgive him. He could… break up with Kairi? No, he couldn't do that. He couldn't hurt her like that. Could he?

However he didn't get much time to think it over, since the phone started ringing. His head snapped up at the sudden blaring chimes of the phone, the call display lighting up and shedding, if only a little, light into the room. Two rings, it didn't seem like anyone was going to answer it. He stood up and walked over to the phone glancing at the display he noticed Kairi's number. Didn't anyone else call him anymore? Tentatively he picked the phone up at the beginning of the fourth ring.

"Hello." He said numbly.

"Oh Riku did I wake you up?" Kairi said on the other end her voice full of concern. "I was just calling to see how your feeling."

"Oh," Riku said, he had been feigning sick the last week. "I guess I'm feeling a little better, you know lots of rest and such."

"What a terrible time to catch a cold." She said, Riku rolled his eyes, sure he loved her but she was too easy to fool. "I know I would hate to get sick over the summer."

"Yeah I'm sure"

"Well, get better soon Riku."

"Bye Kairi."

It was final he couldn't spend anymore time locked into his dark little room, he resolved that he would stop sulking and face the world … without his parents finding out. It was a safe bet that they weren't home right now since they didn't answer the phone. (His mother had an annoying habit of answering within the first two rings) now would be the best time to get out. He would head to the play island and he would dig up his and Sora's buried treasure. Without a moments hesitation he grabbed the makeshift map and headed out into the bright world.

* * *

_Kairi's Pov_

Kairi sighed as she hung up the phone, she was worried about Riku and she wasn't sure if she should believe his story about being sick. He had been acting weird ever since he had hit Sora. She had been amazed that he had done it; she never thought that he would actually go so far. It was kinda funny she did have to admit. Perhaps that was it, Riku wasn't sick but instead consumed with guilt for what he did, but Riku just like her had grown out of their old friends. It was time to move on there was no way they'd become successful if they just followed the same old people around doing the same old thing right?

"I mean how much can you do on that dinky little island?" Kairi asked the room around her, pausing if she was expecting the walls to answer. Naturally they did not.

This was starting to get ridiculous, Riku had told her himself that he didn't care about Tidus, or Wakka, and most of all Sora. All he cared about was her and her well being. At this thought Kairi hugged herself, reveling in her complete ownership of one of the most attractive guys in school. Oh she could name quite a few girls who were very jealous of Kairi and this new improved Riku. Before Riku had been immature, living in a delusion, dreaming of other worlds and adventures that would never take place, this new grounded Riku was much better by far.

Kairi could spend innumerable hours sitting thinking about Riku, but even she was starting to get bored with the lack of actually seeing him or doing something. Perhaps now would be a good time to call up Selphie and see if she wanted to head to the mall or something.

* * *

_Riku's Pov_

Riku found himself on the play island and strangely enough it was completely empty. Usually it was common enough to find at least a few children playing along its sandy shores, but right now it was completely barren. Pulling out the old map from his pocket Riku decided to indulge in the fact that no one was there at the moment and started on the long, complicated, completely unnecessary instructions to the Poupu Island.

Soon enough he found himself lost in an old childhood counting out foot paces, climbing trees, collection a certain amount of coconuts, reciting passwords to invisible guards, fighting imaginary enemies, striving for that goal the red X that isn't even there. Sora and Riku had collaborated on this, originally the two of them conquered these evils together, and they had woven this story. This story, their story, a pirate story.

The great pirate king with his mighty mighty hidden treasure, the treasure a secret so secret no one knew what it was, jewels, knowledge, power. The only clue to where this treasure lay was written on a map, no copies were ever made, and the story over the years had turned into myth. Until one day when the map was rediscovered by two youths. Boys by the names of Riku and Sora, they embarked on this mission unsure of what they would find. Who knew this treasure might be just what it sounded like, a story fabricated to amuse small children or it might be true, it might be the source of all happiness. They set sail to this "uncharted" island hoping upon hope that they might find what they dream of.

Landing on this island they started with the first of the instructions, counting off fifty paces east away from the wooden dock (which really wasn't there, shh) the boys unsure at first slowly gained more confidence with each step that didn't lead them to their doom. The first step after getting aquatinted with the islands shores was to head up to a tree house believed to have been constructed by the islands natives many years before, were they would gather up their new magical weapons. The two climbed up the wooden ladder carefully unsure of how the old wood would hold up their weight, but it was worth it for there it was two magical wooden swords just the right size for each of them.

Next was to head into the jungle and find the carefully selected tree that held a key, what the key was for neither boy was sure of but they collected it anyway. This however was there first catch, for just as they were coming down from the tree there is a great hideous monster waiting for them at the base of the tree. Standing at seven feet in height it towered over the two boys and their wooden swords, but together they were able to bring it down level it back to the earth from whence it came.

There confidence brimming they continued on holding onto there map as if it were the treasure itself, in a way it was since they would never be able to find the marked spot without it. Now that they've collected the key they needed to cross over to the other side of the island heading through a rough bored out tunnel cut through the mountain itself. The dark damp setting making it a hard and dangerous crossing but it was all worthwhile for this was the only way to get to the grove of golden coconuts, magical fruit that would entrust them with success. This however would not be easy since the grove was guarded by trolls of the worst sort, five squat smelly beings that would pound their foe to the ground unrelentlessly until there was nothing left but soft goo.

This was no challenge to the two strong warriors, deftly they took out the trolls and claimed the grove as there own. Pausing here to feast on the golden coconuts that would surely grant them superior strength and make them closer to the gods themselves! The milk from the coconuts quenched their thirst and the meat filled there belly's renewing them back into a vigorous shape and wiping away any trace of fatigue from there previous battles. Surely they would soon come across a foe of great evil that would challenge them as they have never been challenged before.

Heading off for the last half of there expedition both were prepared for the worst to come imagining there worst fears that they may have to face. What they might have to overcome to make it to the next step, and making them one notch closer to the greatest pirate treasure to ever exist. They didn't make if far however since very quickly they were faced with yet another challenge. A rickety old bridge and an old imp, the imp was small, clever, and fast. Force would not work on this obstacle, they would have to use there minds for this one. The only thing the imp would do beside dodge any attempt on its life was demand a password. "Password!" It would say refusing them any access to the bridge, this damn bridge that was their only way to get past the raging river miles below them.

The boys but their heads together trying to figure out the password, but it could be anything and the imp would not give them a clue not even one to narrow there search. They could spend a life time trying to simply guess what it could be. Riku was the first one to come up with a plan, surely the map would hold some clue since it was supposedly their guide to the treasure. They searched the surface of the map looking for any possible clue that might lead them on there way past the stubborn imp. The searched the margins, tried to piece together bits of words labeling parts of the island like the golden coconut grove. None of it worked however, Riku had almost given up hope. Sora was going over the map once more; suddenly he burst out "Rumplestiltskin!" the imp laughed and disappeared, for Sora had guessed the password correctly.

Apparently it was the imp's name, and it was labeled on the map clearly right were they stood; it was so obvious why hadn't they stumbled upon this earlier? However the imp wasn't the only bridge guard, as soon as they crossed both boys walked into an invisible wall and fell into slight shock. What could stop them if there wasn't anything there? They didn't have to wait long however, for a voice boomed over them. "I am the bridge guard; you can not see me so you can not defeat me! If you wish to pass you must say the correct password, speak it incorrectly and I shall have your heads!"

So the imp, he himself was the clue, that dear little imp only moments ago they had been cursing him into oblivion had actually saved there lives. For the imp gave them many try's to guess the password, if they had stumbled on the guard first both would be dead for sure. The boys cried out the password without hesitation, and the unseen guard had no choice but to let them pass.

This was it they were so close now, they passed through a door way and counted off more steps rounding around under a bridge through an old shack and up across the bridge they had walked under only minutes before. They were here, at the spot were the X was marked, but there was no X there was no treasure just sand, trees, and water. The map had lead them wrong. The two youths slumped upon the base of a tree, the one with star shaped fruits and mulled over all they had gone through to get here. All of that and what was there reward?

Perhaps the experience itself is the reward, they had guessed, for certainly they had come out of this much stronger and wiser then before. Maybe it was this island, a hideaway just for the two of them. Even better though was the fruit, the star shaped fruit; such things were unusual and certainly must hold unbeknownst power. A legend of it own, a story, there must be something behind this fruit. The two boys decided that the fruit must be the reward and certainly it must be sacred, they should find out more about this special treasure and return when they know more about it. Besides, it was getting close to dinner time.

This was the story he and Sora had come up with in there childish minds. Riku now stood at the base of the key tree, running his finger alone the dotted path that they had once followed so precisely. Why the key? He didn't know, why they didn't try to dig for treasure? He still didn't know. It was just what they did. He glanced up at the tree; it was just an ordinary tree. There was nothing up there but leaves and coconuts since that's what all the trees had around here. Still looking up he could see the sky peaking through some of the leave and the sun… reflecting of something shiny? Surely they hadn't left that key up there all these years?

Riku felt the familiar weight of his old wooden sword in his hand (since he had previously grabbed it from the tree house) and suddenly somewhere in the back of his mind something sparked. He would go through this he would climb that tree grab the key of plot holes, since that was all it really was, and he would find himself that treasure. Maybe he would even share it with Sora…

Almost as if his body was acting without his command Riku found himself up the tree struggling through the branches trying to free the antique key that had wound up tangled in the branches, probably from numerous storms over the years. He managed to free the key but not without first almost plummeting to his death, he dared not examine the key until he was safely on the ground.

The key was now rusted but it still was on the silver chain they had found on the beach on day, once this had been a beautiful functional item, now it was likely to give someone tetanus. It did hold some of the resilience it once had though, Riku could still see some of the silver coloured coating on the inside of the tumblers. That what must have been sparkling in the sun? He slipped the tarnished chain around his wrist several times making sure that it would stay in place, but he felt like he was forgetting something. He pulled out the map, there was the tree, there was a key drawn at the top and at the base… the monster. Of course the monster should be attacking him right about now.

Riku quickly folded the map back up and drew his sword, it used to be him and Sora that would take this creature on, but he was older now, he could take it by himself. He knew he could of course he could he was only imagining it anyway. He could almost see the tall beast that would tower over him even today, its body partially covered in lizard like scales, the rest sprouted greasy fur. Riku fought this beast plunging his sword into the air in front of him, dodging the monsters massive fists as it tried to crush him. Riku defeated this thing with ease and continued on with his now solo mission.

The dark mysterious tunnel wasn't really a pathway through a mountain, but instead just the throughway to the other side of the island. Riku jumped up and made his way through the short path and found himself in the "Golden coconut grove" Ah yes this is were he would now defeat five hairy trolls. Once again drawing his wooden sword he dispatched of all five trolls with ease, he was the mighty Riku no measly troll would stand a match against him. When the last troll fell he was once again in charge of the grove, he was king here.

Feasting on the "magical" coconuts was a little lonelier this time around though; there was no one here to toast his victories with, no one to brag about finding the great pirate treasure. Just Riku, and that dragged just a little, he didn't even finish his coconut milk. Instead he was eager to go on and greet the imp Rumplestiltskin. It would be much easier this time since he already knew the password, but no one was at the bridge, and there was no invisible guard. Of course not, there never really was… Riku sighed and looked down at the sword in his hand. It was true, he had outgrown this. It wasn't much fun anymore.

Deciding to just spend the rest of the day sitting under the paoupu tree like he used to Riku gave into adult hood and put away a little piece of his childhood.

He settled onto the curved base of the tree he gazed out across the open ocean, once they had dreamed of setting sale and discovering new worlds. It never happened the only thing out there was the mainland, where they all went eventually to visit family. There was no adventure out there, no magic, no quests waiting to be conquered, nothing but a dirty old city. Turning his eyes back to the paoupu tree he examined the fruit. There was one thing that was true; there really wasn't anything else like the paoupu tree. Maybe there was one thing that was magical, the fruit. Perhaps Selphies hair brained story about the paoupu bonding people together was true, all you really needed was to believe.

His and Sora's reward… they should have shared one that day all those years ago, maybe then they'd still be together, they'd still be friends. There was that feeling again, he knew he had to put things right. No matter how long it took, he would have this one last little bit of magic with Sora; they would share a fruit together.

* * *

_Kairi's Pov_

Selphie and Kairi were pulling up to the play island in there little boat. They paid no attention to the other boat tied up there; there usually were other people here. "Ooo Selphie I think that you came up with such a great idea, it's been forever since we've watched the sun set on the water like this."

"I know and you just can't get a view like you can from this island." Selphie said as she jumped onto the dock, being careful not to get her new shoes wet.

"Hey, isn't that Riku on the Paoupu Island?" Kairi said pointing over to the figure sitting on the distinctively curved tree.

"Looks like it, I thought he was sick…" Selphie said beginning to move toward the figure.

"I thought so too." Kairi narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "He better not have been lying to me."

I didn't take them long to reach the island crossing onto it using the wooden bridge. "Hey Riku!" Selphie greeted waving her hands like a marionette.

Riku looked back towards them, as if it were painful to take his eyes off of the water. His glance was only momentary before he turned his aqua eyes back to the ocean. This perturbed Kairi; she wanted to know why Riku was here when he had been telling her all week that he was sick. It didn't take her long to ask. "Riku, why are you here?"

Riku shrugged.

"I thought you said you were sick."

Again he shrugged.

"Riku! Answer me!" Kairi demanded stomping her foot on the soft sand for emphasis.

"I felt like it." He said quietly.

"That's not a good enough reason to lie to me Riku what's wrong with you? You've been acting strange all week."

"I told you I've been sick."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "You told me earlier today that you we're still sick, so why are you here and not in bed?"

"No I told you I was feeling better."

"You said a little better, a little better isn't good enough to leave your bed." Kairi was starting to get impatient and wishing she hadn't come to the island today.

"Why are you here?" He asked suddenly, switching the topic.

"We came to watch the sunset." Selphie interjected. Obviously thinking that the subject change would help the situation out, she didn't like it when her friends fought.

"Well I'll leave you to do that then." And with that Riku abandoned his post at the Paoupu tree and left the two girls.

* * *

_Riku's Pov_

Time had passed and Riku had given up on his 'I'll stay in my room till I'm grown' plan, he currently sat on the outside patio of a well known coffee place. He sat alone, sipping on a frozen coffee treat, though it would not stay that way for long.

Sean came up taking off his apron, holding his own drink in his free hand. He smiled at Riku, who looked a little glum. "What's with you?" He asked.

"Nothing." Riku said staring at a stain on the table.

"Well fine if you're going to be like that then, you can forget about tonight." Sean said poking Riku in the back to urge him up off his chair.

"What's tonight?" Riku asked a little more intrigued than before.

"Um… did you forget? You and I are going out for drinks at Fiji's"

True, Riku had forgot, his mind was other places he knew what today was. "Oh right."

"We are still going right?" Sean asked after taking a long sip from his cup.

"Yeah I guess were still on."

"Great, I'll see you there." With that they parted ways, Sean turning to go to his house and Riku the other way to his own home.

Riku wasn't sure if going out tonight of all nights was a great idea. He'd have to stick it out after all he was the new Riku now…

* * *

Author Notes: I finally finished it! I've been working on this one for a while; I guess it took me a bit to motivate myself to write it. This is the last part of the side story and next chapter I'll get back to Sora, Cloud, and Leon in the bar. Yay! Life's been a little bit crazy lately, I've been working a lot a lot a lot, and next week school starts up. Sooo that means updates are going to be, a little slower in coming. However now that I've finally got the financing for school all straightened out, all I have to worry about is books, art supplies, and whether I'll get a deep enough locker for my portfolio or not. I hope I do.

Any way support me and leave a review!

Edit: fixed some spelling and grammatical errors – 11-28-05


	9. Chapter 7

You Could be the Reason

Chapter 7

Author Notes: The new and improved chapter 7. I apologize for that garbage earlier.

xxxxxxx

Sora had never ordered a drink before, and suddenly he was faced by a smiling waitress and no menu to look off of. He didn't get a chance however before both Leon and Cloud interrupted at the same time ordering him a tall white rum and coke. Sora blinked in surprise, he never expected them to order for him.

"You didn't have to do that you know, but thank you." Sora said, slightly embarrassed of his lack of alcohol knowledge.

"You don't seem like the type to know what you want." Leon said.

Cloud just grinned. "Your not paying for anything either."

"No, you don't have to do that, I can afford it." Sora felt a little uncomfortable, he wasn't used to people insisting on things like this, though he'd never been in a situation like this with his friends.

"Shut-up Sora it's your birthday. Thank you." He said as the waitress returned with their drinks: a soda for Leon, and two rum and cokes for Cloud and Sora. "Send Gaston over to would you."

"Certainly." She said with a big smile.

"I can't believer you're going to start in on him already." Leon said taking a sip of his soda.

"Oh come on, you know how long it takes him to get here. I'll have a few drinks in me by then." Cloud said smiling at Sora, who really didn't know what to do.

"Just what we need." Leon rolled his eyes.

Cloud stuck his tongue out at Leon. "Go ahead Sora try your drink." He pushed the glass closer to Sora, urging the boy to try it.

Sora looked at it closely, on appearance it looked like a normal drink. The dark soda looked inconspicuous enough and the ice seemed normal, as he moved the glass closer to his face that's when he noticed the smell. It was pungent, but not all together unpleasant. Tentatively he took a small sip; he could taste the sweetness of the coke, and feel the carbonated bubbles in his mouth. That wasn't all though, Sora felt the bite of the rum, as the liquid burned down his throat causing him to cough. He could feel Clouds hand on his back soothing the coughing.

"Careful there Sora, don't let it get you." Cloud teased.

"I wasn't expecting that." Sora said as soon as his coughing calmed down a bit.

"Don't be afraid of it." Cloud piped as he took a large swig of his own drink. "It's good. What do you think of it?"

"It's alright I guess, but you should have warned me first." Sora said taking another sip, this time without the harsh burn on the back of his throat.

"Oh come on Sora it's not like your drinking tequila or something." Cloud said.

"Tequila?" Sora was really starting to feel stupid now.

"You think we should order him some Leon?" Cloud looked across at Leon and gave him a smile. Sora could tell there was something behind that smile, a hidden story between the two men, or perhaps he was planning something.

Sora didn't have long to worry though, Leon intervened and put Clouds plans to a stop. "Don't even think about it Cloud, I don't want him getting sick."

Sora felt his gut freeze up "sick?" Damn all these stupid questions!

"Cloud and I had a …interesting time one time when we went for a vacation down south once." Leon answered, leaving a bit of his response hidden in a mist of unspoken words. Sora began to wonder why Cloud had never said that his roommate was such an enigma. Even so… he was still grateful for his presence at the table.

"Besides it's a bad idea to start mixing alcohols." Cloud informed.

xxxxxxx

Sean picked Riku up from his house in the sports car his parents had bought for him. Sean greeted Riku when he opened the car door "Hey man."

"Hey" Riku said as he sat down. "Please say that you're not planning on driving home tonight."

"Why do you always have to be such a stick in the mud Riku?"

"It's called being responsible Sean." Riku rolled his eyes; he always hated it when Sean was like this.

"Whatever." Sean pulled onto the main drive that would take them to their destination. "I can't wait till some more people are legal. This sucks sometimes just the two of us going out. I mean in the very least one of the girls."

"Yeah tell me about it… Today is someone's birthday though." Riku was staring out the window; he didn't see Sean's start of surprise.

"Really? Why the hell didn't you tell me earlier man?"

"You never said anything about it." Riku defended

"Who?"

"Sora." Riku didn't say anything more or anything less.

"Oh well… maybe we'll run into him. I'd love to give him a proper birthday greeting. Didn't know earlier when I saw him." Sean hid a smirk from Riku, although it didn't seem all that important since Riku was still staring out the window.

"What do you mean?"

"I ran into him down at the beach… met a friend of his."

Riku looked away from the window. "You saw him? Wait a second; all of his friends are out of town. Who did you see?"

"I dunno some blonde guy."

"A shrimpy blonde guy… Tidus?"

"No it was a big guy. Looked to be in his twenties." Sean pulled into the parking lot at Fiji's.

"Hmm…" Riku really could not think of who Sean could be referring to. The only blonde that Sora knew was Tidus. Well there was that Z-guy from the midnight tree.

"Come on lets go before you waste the whole night away, what's with you tonight anyway man?" Sean prodded Riku in the back to urge him forward.

"Whatever you say." With that the two of them went into the not so tropical bar, to have a not so typical night.

xxxxxxx

Sora wasn't sure what he had said but it had Cloud bent over the table with his face buried in his arms laughing. Sora looked over at Leon hoping that the sensible one would know what had happened. Leon only shrugged "don't worry about it, he finds everything funny when he's drunk."

"Hey!" Cloud proclaimed, suddenly no longer laughing. "I'm not drunk… yet. I've just never heard you sneeze like that before Sora." Suddenly his laughter was renewed.

Leon raised one eyebrow. Sora stared blankly. "It was only a sneeze…" Sora tried to defend himself.

"It was more then one sneeze Sora that was like five… at once, people usually don't sneeze five times in a row." Cloud chuckled out.

"Shut up, I'm going to go blow my nose." With that he left the table and left for the bathroom. "I hope that you'll be done laughing at me by the time I get back."

Both Cloud and Leon watched the small boy leave their table. "That was a little harsh Cloud." Leon said his eyes cold on Clouds face.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked genuinely confused at the statement.

"You laughed at his sneeze… who does that?"

"I do… Your mean Leon, ice bastard."

"Oh go get another drink." Leon said "and bring me another soda while you're doing that."

"Whatever…ice bastard…"

"What is with you and saying that tonight, it doesn't even make sense."

xxxxxxx

Riku and Sean had just sat at a table near the bar, and just ordered their drinks when Sean spotted Cloud walking up to the bar. Quickly Sean nudged Riku's side, "Hey Riku the guy at the bar."

Riku looked over at Cloud not knowing what he was looking for. "What about him?"

"That's the guy your looser ex-friend was with earlier." Sean explained, making Riku look at him harder.

"He looks familiar, are you sure Sora was with him?" Riku was desperately seeking an answer now.

"Hell if I know, he seemed to know him though. Who cares anyway?"

"What were you doing with Sora anyway? It doesn't seem like you'd be the type to sit down and have a natural conversation with him."

"I said happy birthday! What the hell does it matter to you? Seriously Riku, you're really starting to get under my skin tonight." Sean was loosing his patience Riku could easily tell.

"Earlier you said that you didn't know that it was his birthday."

"Who cares, come on Riku it's nothing serious." Sean defended, seriously wondering what was wrong with Riku. "You're starting to ruin my night."

"Oh am I just starting now. I had hoped to be well under your skin by now." Riku's sarcastic side was starting to poke his head out.

"You know if you're starting to doubt being my friend maybe you should just go get chummy with the blonde guy over there." Sean said as he indicated Cloud with his thumb over his shoulder.

"Please I'm not quite that desperate." Riku said unable to take his eyes off the blonde, he had to admit he was a good looking guy. His curiosity was defiantly peeked by the man. What was his connection with Sora?

"You know it would be real easy to go talk to him. Just go to the bar and order another drink and you know… just kinda say hi." Sean suggested looking back over to Cloud again. "You find out who he's here with."

"Forget it I don't want to talk to him. Besides it would seem like I'm trying to pick him up."

"Rawr Riku you've got some serious anger issues tonight."

xxxxxxx

When Cloud returned to the table he found Sora back grinning at him. Cloud wondered what the grin was about. He had to ask. "What's the smile about Sora?"

A small voice piped up from behind him. "Excuse me." Behind Cloud was their waitress carrying a drink she set it on the table in front of Sora. Then walked away again, smiling at Cloud as she passed.

"Okay what's this all about?" He asked as he sat down.

"She showed up right after you left." Sora grinned again. "Just as I was coming back, you made that trip for nothing."

"So." Cloud ruffled up Sora's hair. "Its not that big of a deal you know. I just can't believe you ordered yourself another drink."

"He didn't I did." Leon corrected taking his drink from Cloud. "Thanks for getting my soda."

"Just don't forget you've got to pay for half the tab."

"Whatever."

"Ice… bastard." Cloud said as he sat next to Sora again.

"Um…" Sora said, unsure of what to say now.

Cloud just laughed at Sora's discomfort. "We should order some shots!"

Thankfully Leon crushed the idea before it could get out of the starting gate. "Forget it Cloud I already said I don't want him getting sick." Sora was so grateful that Leon was here, there was no telling what would happen to him if he wasn't here.

"Your suck a party pooper you know that." Cloud tossed his drink back and drank the whole thing down. Sora was a bit shocked. "Well I'm not going to let you ruin my night. I need another drink."

Cloud signaled the waitress and pointed at his glass she nodded disappearing back to the bar. "How could you do that?" Sora asked. He was on a roll for asking stupid question so why stop now.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"How did you drink your entire drink down like that?"

"Well you know Sora it's not rocket science, you can do more then take little girly sips at your drink you know." Cloud nudged Sora in the side and smiled at the boys blush.

"There not girly!" Sora defended.

"I don't know Sora you in general are pretty girly. I mean come on look at those arms." Cloud poked Sora's arm to emphasize his point.

"Hey!" Sora pushed at Cloud

"I never said it was a bad thing… I kinda like it." Cloud grinned and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Sora blanched, and hoped that it was the rum talking Cloud.

Clouds next drink wasn't delivered by the waitress but by none other then Gaston who sat down next to Leon and set the drink down in front of Cloud with a handsome grin set in place. "Greetings, how are things going for you three tonight." He said this with obvious over dramatics.

"Hey what ya know Gaston you've finally come to join us, took you long enough." Cloud said gesticulating with his hands.

"Come now Cloud you say that all the time. Now I know the only reason you want me to come visit is because you're attracted to my manly charm and beauty."

Cloud choked on his drink. "You only wish you could get a piece of this Gaston." Sora was beginning to understand Leon's earlier remarks about Cloud and Gaston.

"Ew Cloud how many times to I need to tell you that I'm not interested in your gay little episodes. Why don't you go take it out on someone who would actually like you to invade their ass." He gestured to Sora. "Like this little girly boy here."

Sora didn't know what to do he'd never been singled out like this before, nor had he ever been called "girly" so often. Luckily for Sora Leon intervened. "Gaston why don't you leave Sora out of this, he's new at this okay?"

Gaston flashed another one of his handsome grins. "Why Leon of course only since you asked so nicely. Cloud how about we settle this argument with a little arm wrestling."

"Forget it Gaston, we're just trying to have a good time." Cloud said picking his drink up off the table.

"Of course I understand you're just afraid of my bulging biceps. I would be afraid of defeat if I was in your situation." Gaston flexed his arms as if to add stress onto what he just said.

Cloud narrowed his eyes and Sora could just feel the danger hanging on the air. He took a large swig of his drink before setting it violently down on the table and presenting his hand to Gaston. "You're on."

Leon took this opportunity to get Sora's attention. Grabbing him by the hand he pulled Sora out of his seat. "Come on lets go play a round of pool."

"You don't want to stay and watch?" Sora asked looking up at the taller man.

"No I know what'll happen, Cloud will loose then challenge Gaston again and then he'll loose again. It's kind of a circle pattern from there."

"Oh I guess that makes sense." Sora followed Leon without question. "I guess that wouldn't be very interesting."

They arrived at the pool tables, not far from the front entrance the bar was in view and so was Cloud and Gaston. Leon dug a quarter out of the pockets from his leather pants and inserted it into the table to get the required balls. Sora had never really been a connoisseur for billiards but he'd played a few games in his years. He quickly selected a cue and smiled at Leon who was setting the table up.

xxxxxxx

Riku was still sitting at his table with Sean who was full out plastered. "Hey Riku!"

"What?" Riku was a little annoyed, apparently tonight was not a good night for him. It also looked like he'd have to drive Sean home in his shiny new car.

"I dunno I forget." Sean laughed a bit and Riku rolled his eyes. "Oh wait I remember now, you suck tonight man."

"You know what Sean, shut the hell up. I'm sick of listening to you. I'm going to leave now I just hope that you're responsible enough to get a taxi home tonight." Riku was ready to leave now even if he had to walk home.

"What?" Sean said. Riku didn't respond instead he just walked to the bar to pay his tab. He could hear Sean's forehead falling to the table, he'd be real sore tomorrow morning.

Riku pulled his wallet out at the bar and asked for his bill. As he was waiting for the waitress to get it he looked around the bar, curious as to who was here tonight. It was obvious tonight that it wasn't going to pick up anytime soon. There were lots of empty tables and very little background chatter. Riku saw that blonde from earlier sitting at a table arm wrestling with Gaston the bar owner, Riku made note that he was apparently here alone. No one was playing darts and there were only two playing pool. A tall brunette and… Sora?

"I've got your bill here." It was the waitress; hurriedly Riku paid his bill and rushed over to where Sora was.

As he got closer it was obvious that was defiantly Sora there. Riku was careful that Sora didn't spot him right away, he was curious to see who the brunette was and what Sora had to do with him. They were playing pool and it looked like their game was almost finished Riku could tell by Sora's pout that he was loosing, which was typical the only person Sora had ever been able to beat at pool was Selphie. Plus the brunette looked like he knew what he was doing as he knocked another ball into a corner pocket causing Sora to whine even more.

Riku couldn't resist a smile as he continued watching, Sora had his turn and managed to sink a ball, his arms raised up in triumph. Just watching him brought back lots of fond memories to Riku. Riku had sat down in a booth and was propping his chin up with his hand. Sora had his back to Riku and the brunette was opposite to him, he was the one who noticed Riku. He narrowed his eyes and leaned over and said something to Sora, Sora just nodded his head and went back to examining the remaining balls on the table the brunette left.

Whoever he was he didn't leave to go to the washroom he crossed the room and walked right up to Riku. Riku was confused. "Um… Hi?" He tried.

"Who the hell are you?" The brunette asked.

"What does it matter to you?" Riku retorted. Whoever this guy was he had a lot of nerve.

The stranger rolled his eyes at Riku. "Fine if you want to keep asking questions. What were you doing staring at us?"

"Just watching your game it's not a big deal." Finally an answer to some of the questions thought it wasn't completely true.

"Well fuck off your annoying me."

Riku opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a smaller brunette. "Riku?"

Sora had noticed where Leon had gone and left the table. "Hey Sora, um… Happy Birthday."

Riku loved the smile that crossed Sora's face. "Thanks Riku."

A silence broke out after word, neither boy knew what to say it had been so long since they had a decent conversation. Leon remaining his stoic self didn't say anything either.

The silence was broken however by a loud bang and an equally loud curse, coming from none other then the table where Cloud and Gaston where at. Shortly after Gaston appeared and motioned for Leon. "You need to go look after your friend there. He's a little worse for wear."

Gaston nodded at Sora then left. "Why don't you two finish that game, I'm going to go see what Clouds up to."

"Okay Leon." Sora waved to him, even though they weren't leaving anytime soon.

xxxxxxx

Sora was happy that Riku had turned up, he was pretty sure that it was just a coincidence but it still was enough to fill his belly with joy. "So do you want to finish our game?"

Riku looked over at the table and considered. "Nah, I'd rather start a new one."

Sora grinned. "Sure." That meant that he was guaranteed even more time with Riku more then he would if they continued the original game.

They never got to it though, Sora was signaled back over to the table by Leon, Riku followed. Cloud was folded over the table and he seemed unable to stop laughing, Sora was slightly confused.

"I couldn't beat him!" Cloud burst out then looked up to Leon. "I don't like it here anymore."

"Yes Cloud you always say that after you've lost." Leon reassured Cloud then moved closer to Sora. "I think it's just about time to leave."

Sora nodded his response it made complete sense to leave if Cloud wasn't going to have any fun, besides it was getting a bit late. "I guess we'll be heading out then Riku." Sora said almost dismissively to Riku now that he was back in Clouds presence he felt content.

"Uh Right…maybe I'll see you around sometime." Riku said disappointment hanging off his words. "I've got to make sure that Sean makes it home in one piece anyway."

Sora's eyes narrowed slightly. "See you." Then he turned his back to Riku and turned his attention back to Cloud and Leon. Somewhere inside Riku something died a little.

Slowly backing away from the scene Riku waved one final farewell to Sora who never noticed, then left to see if Sean had made it to his car yet, fully intent on calling a taxi home.

Leon used one of Clouds credit cards to pay the bill and made an excuse that he'd pay his half later. One short car ride home and Sora was standing outside of his house with Cloud, Leon was in the car waiting for Cloud to return.

"You know this almost feels like a date." Cloud said not making direct eye contact with Sora.

"Um… I guess." Sora agreed …well almost.

"Then I'll have to kiss you goodnight." Cloud said and before Sora could protest Cloud leaned forward and captured Sora's lips in a chaste kiss. "Good night Sora I'll see you at work." He turned and left stumbling over the house steps just slightly.

Sora stood and watched Leon and Cloud drive away his right hand raised to his lips.

xxxxxxx

Author Notes: There much better! I'm better now no more cold so time to finish up the chapter. Well what do you think tell me tell me. This was my new keyboards real first new run, it's cordless and really swanky. Um, leave a review and… go check out my oneshot I command you!

Edit: some spelling and grammatical errors fixed: 08-25-06


	10. Chapter 8

You Could be the Reason

Chapter 8

Author Notes: I swear to you that I really really meant to get at least one more chapter up during the Christmas holiday, and I think I would have if I hadn't of gotten sick like that. Anyway I'm back at school I'm broke and I'm buried under a massive pile of homework constantly… seriously…

xxxxxxx

Sora groaned as he cracked his eyes open, damn the early morning sun. He had a slight headache and he didn't feel the need to get out of bed. So instead he rolled over and tried to fall asleep again, however that was easier said then done. The morning sun streaming through his window was a distraction and no matter how many times he tried he couldn't find a comfortable position to lie in. He stole a quick glance at his clock and noted the time, shortly after nine. He guessed that the day wasn't going to get any easier so giving up he left bed behind and went to find some aspirin.

His mother was in the kitchen getting her things ready for work. She smiled at him when he walked in. "I wasn't expecting you up this early, how you feeling?"

"Fine, just a bit of a headache." Sora responded opening the fridge door in hopes of finding something half decent to eat. He selected some left over pizza deciding to eat it cold.

"Well I'm off I'll see you in a few hours bye hunny." She swiftly kissed his forehead and left.

It seemed quiet… very quiet now that the house was empty almost serene. He sat down to enjoy his pizza, all thoughts of aspirin gone, and started replaying the events from the previous night. Would Riku be friends with him now? Was it worth while? And the kiss from Cloud… Sora guessed that Cloud had just probably had too much to drink; the chances were high that he didn't even remember doing it. Still Sora thought, it would have been nice if it were sincere.

"Stop thinking like that!" Sora commanded himself and hit his forehead vigorously as if trying to dislodge the idea. Good little boys didn't think of their bosses like that. Well at least their male bosses. He needed to get out of this house the quite environment was turning from serene to creepy now.

He needed to structure his day, make a plan, and keep himself busy otherwise he was sure he'd drive himself nuts if he kept thinking of stuff like this. First he would need to get dressed he couldn't go anywhere in his pj's. Next he would make a lunch? No before that he'd have to figure out where he was going…he might not need a lunch. He could go to the beach again, or the play island see if he could find Peter and the lost boys, or he could head to the mall, or the downtown sector pop into work and see who was in today.

All this was running through his mind as he headed upstairs and dressed himself, casual shorts and a simple t-shirt. Once dressed he was still listing off possible things he could do as he head back downstairs, go to the park and get some ice-cream, or catch a movie, or he could just wander the streets aimlessly…

The doorbell interrupted his stream of consciousness, who could be here now? Sora wondered. He hoped it wasn't one of his moms business associates the last time one of them stopped over when she wasn't here Sora ended up having to entertain him since he said that he'd wait for her to come back. Good waste of three hours of Sora's life right there. He prepared himself as he opened the front door.

"Riku?" He said when he saw the very recognizable figure standing on the front stoop.

"Hey." He said casually.

Sora was stunned, Riku was the last person he expected to "pop in for a visit" in fact he probably would have been less surprised if it had been Leon standing there. "Riku, what are you doing here?"

"What can't I stop by to see how your doing? I can't believe I almost missed Sora's first night at the bar…" He said wistfully, Sora just stared numbly back. "So are you going to invite me in or what?"

"Oh yeah I guess." Sora opened the door wider to allow his former best friend through… or was it former, former best friend now? This was starting to get confusing. That's when Sora realized that Riku was carrying a bag. A medium sized backpack slung over one shoulder, and not the one he used for school. "What's with the bag?"

"Huh? Oh." Riku said as he took a seat in the living room. "Ah I just thought I'd bring over a hangover cure."

"Why?" Sora said sitting on the sofa adjacent to the one Riku was on.

"Just in case, we can enjoy it hangover or not." He set the bag of the coffee table in front of him and pulled out a six pack of beer.

"What the hell are you doing bring that over here!" Sora exclaimed, yet another thing he wasn't expecting. "How is that going to stop a hangover?"

Riku shrugged his shoulders, "Next best thing to greasy junk food." He pulled two cans from the six and handed one to Sora. "Drink up." He said as he opened his own can and took a swig.

Sora looked from the can back to Riku twice. "This is insane I mean it's only 10 in the morning."

Again Riku shrugged his shoulders. "So we're young we're allowed to do stuff like this." Riku leaned over took the can from Sora opened it and placed it back into Sora's hand. "Besides we could have more fun then we did last night."

Sora stared down at the can again now open, and slowly he brought it to his face. He was old enough now, and he was sure that his mom (as weird as she was) wouldn't mind if he had one drink. He could smell the bitter scent of the alcohol, tentatively he took a sip. He was prepared this time at least a little bit it was stronger then he expected and more bitter compared to the highballs the night before. Never the less he still coughed as the liquid burned its way down his throat.

He could hear Riku's faint chuckle apparently he found Sora's discomfort amusing. Sora felt his face heat up in embarrassment, "Shove it Riku!"

"Hey it's not my fault you can't handle one little drink." Riku defend.

"I'll show you!" Apparently the competitive edge from their childhood had never left either of them, Sora trying his best to show Riku he could do anything the older boy could by taking another larger swig of the beer. This time knowing what to expect he managed not to cough it back up, proving his point right and Riku wrong.

And so it was that by noon the two boys had all six beers gone, they left a hasty note explaining where Sora had gone and that he would return the next day after work. Riku and Sora left the house making sure to lock the door behind them and made their way to Riku's house using the back way, just like when they were kids giggling all the way. Sora's head felt light and bubbly for some reason the past year didn't matter anymore. Riku had promised more beer at his house and Sora had agreed to go, they had quickly packed up Sora's things and left via the back door.

When they finally arrived at Riku's house Sora suddenly felt nervous, he hadn't be here in close to a year, he hadn't seen Riku's parents in about the same amount of time. What would they think of him now? "Wait Riku what about your parents?" Despite the feeling in the back of his brain, Sora's better judgment still managed to keep up.

Riku let out a snort "They don't care if I've been drinking just that I'm safe." He dug out his key out of his pocket. "Besides they're not home right now anyway."

It was then that it hit Sora "Oh shit!"

"What?" Riku turned around at Sora's vulgarity.

"My mom's gonna be pissed!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Riku grabbed the panicking Sora and pulled him into the house before he had the whole neighborhood looking.

"When my mom finds out I've been drinking she's going to kill me." Sora exclaimed.

"Again what the hell are you talking about? You've got like the coolest mom on the island." Riku was beside himself in disbelief. "I mean if she caught you in bed with a girl I think she'd start applauding."

"I don't think that would ever happen." Sora muttered, thoughts of Cloud passing before his disillusioned mind.

"Yeah you're too much of a goody goody for that one." Riku grabbed Sora's arm and pulled him in the direction of the basement. "Come on the beers downstairs."

"Yeah." Sora followed willingly.

Riku's basement really hadn't been very much the last time Sora was down there mostly just the washer and dryer plus a few boxes. There had been a few changes, now there were a few rugs laid down and a long couch in front of an old TV Sora recognized as one that used to live upstairs. In the corner was a bar fridge and a worn table along with a couple of old kitchen chairs mismatched obviously. Riku reached into the fridge and removed to bottles of beer uncapping both and handing one to Sora. "So what do you think of it?" Riku said gesturing to the surroundings.

"It's Uh…. Quite… charming?" Sora guessed.

Riku burst out laughing, "No ones ever called it that before. I think its usual title is shit hole."

Sora laughed along "Yeah I guess that does fit it a bit better"

"So how about a game of cards." Riku gestured to the table, which conveniently had a deck of cards laying on it. "Crazy eights anyone?"

"I'm up for a game." Sora said happily, they used to play crazy eights when they were kids. "It's been a long time."

Riku sat down at the old table and started shuffling the cards. "The only problem with crazy eights is that the old rules are so boring." Riku arched an eyebrow. "Why don't we make it a little more interesting?"

"…what do you mean by interesting?" Sora was perplexed and interested at the same time, wondering if Riku was suggesting they should start betting.

"Let's adjust the rules a little bit." Riku leaned back in his chair as if he were contemplating something. Although Sora had known the other boy long enough to know that he already had in mind what he was going to say, this was just for show. "Okay I think I've got it, it'll be a version of crazy eight count down, but whenever your opponent gets to another number, like from crazy eight to crazy seven, you've got to remove an article of clothing."

"What!" Sora exclaimed almost choking on the beer he was partaking of that moment.

"It seems pretty simple to me lets say you got rid of all your cards, normally in countdown you have to pick up more and your wild card is now changed from eight to seven and so on, so it would be like that but I would have to take something off or vice versa if I were to get to the bottom of my pile first right?"

Sora nodded dumbfounded, wasn't this something he was suppost to do with Kairi? "Why would you want to do that with me?" Sora asked tentatively.

"Why what's the big deal, we used to have baths together when we were kids."

"Yeah Riku when we're kids, besides a bath and strip crazy eights are completely different."

This brought a smirk to Riku's face. "Would you rather have a bath?"

Sora blanched. "Can't we just play a normal card game?"

"Nope now drink your beer and play." Riku started to deal the cards out.

xxxxxxx

It was quickly approaching 7 in the evening after several more beers and a few "practice" rounds of cards, where they played with their clothes on, due to Sora's insistence. Sora was down to just his boxer shorts and Riku was quickly reaching crazy three. He also couldn't stop laughing. "Come on Riku you've still got your pants on, go easy on me." With that his head fell forward and landed on the table with a dull thunk, laughing the whole time.

Riku himself couldn't withhold his mirth. Sora was just too funny when he was drunk; it seemed that there wasn't anything he wouldn't say. Riku managed to suppress some of his laughter to offer Sora some salvation. "Okay I'll pass this turn if you'll answer a couple of questions. I mean I already let you count your socks as two separate items"

Sora's head lifted off the table eyes full of hope that perhaps he had a chance of leveling the odds. "Okay!"

"Okay question one." Riku grinned at his own ingenious he had never specified how many questions. "Do you like any one right now?" What a juvenile question Riku berated himself.

"A couple." Sora responded.

Riku was surprised he thought maybe one person but… a couple? "Oh? Who are they?"

"Well one's my boss." Sora started to list off. This started Riku's mind reeling. Who was Sora's boss he had thought it was that blonde guy but he must have been wrong, how lame is it to go out with you boss anyway, who could it be then? One of those girls obviously but which one? Riku racked his brain to recall the female employees of the midnight tree. There was that blonde one with the glasses, no she was to stern for Sora plus she didn't seem the type to go for someone as young as Sora. The girl with the dark hair? Ri-something or another or was it the hyper one? Honestly he couldn't picture Sora with any of them. So he interrupted Sora before the boy could finish.

"Wait what's their name?"

"Huh? Oh… Cloud and I like."

"Isn't Cloud a guy?" Riku could not be hearing things right

"Yeah I guess he is." Suddenly Sora started laughing like he heard the most hilarious thing ever.

"What are you laughing at?" Riku asked

It took Sora a few tries to compose himself enough to respond. "You." At Riku's confused expression Sora elaborated. "You're so drunk!"

"I am not you are!" Riku retorted he was not drunk!

"Yeah you are your slurring and everything." Sora burst out in a new batch of giggles.

Riku threw his cards onto the table; he was getting tired of this. Getting out of his seat he quickly closed the distance between himself and Sora grabbing him by the shoulders, and forcing him up out of seat.

"Wait" Sora said throwing his arms up to protect himself. "You didn't let me finish."

Riku could quickly feel himself loosing what little he had left of his patience. "What?" He shot out. In the back of his mind he was wondering if it had been a smart idea to stop at Sora's

"The other person I like…" Sora trailed off. Riku had honestly been expecting more slurs at him, what he got was the complete opposite. "I like you…"

Sora saw the fire die down in Riku's eyes and the bustling aqua colour turn back into an inviting cool pool. He in his hazy mind didn't register what it was that he had said exactly but it did like the next action. Riku removed any space between them by leaning in and capturing Sora's lips in a kiss. To which Sora immediately responded to. Riku guided Sora away from the table and the card game and pushed him down onto the couch, giving Sora a lecherous grin. Okay so he was a little drunk, not drunk enough that he didn't know what he was doing though. "Can I level the playing field now?" Sora said indicating Riku's shorts.

xxxxxxx

Sora groggily awoke the next morning to the sound of an alarm clock, loud and annoying. He was about to roll over and slam the snooze button but someone beat him to it. This woke him up a little faster then the alarm. His eyes shot open and he sad up quickly, only to regret it, the room started to spin and he was hit was a sudden wave of vertigo, forcing him to lie back down.

A coarse voice spoke up next to him, expressing Sora's very own thoughts at the moment. "I feel like crap."

Sora nodded his head and rolled over to face the voice, it was Riku. Why the hell was Riku in his bed? Upon further, although haphazard, inspection of the wall behind Riku, Sora realized that he wasn't in his bed, in fact he was in Riku's bed. Why was he there? Oh right he and Riku had planned this the day before he had brought Pj's over. But he wasn't wearing them… in fact he wasn't wearing anything. He lifted the sheets just to be sure; yep naked and so was Riku.

His slow morning brain took a few moments to register this fact but as soon as it got through the front gates Sora's eyes bulged and he managed to fall off the bed onto the floor when his tired limbs tried to separate himself from Riku. It was then that the alarm went off again. Riku sat up this time, rubbing at his tired eyes and simultaneously turning the alarm off. Only then did he turn his attention to Sora. "What are you doing on the floor Sora?"

Sora merely stared at him; he was in a state of shock. He couldn't make complete sense of what was the current situation. He really couldn't remember much of the previous night and this was the last thing he would have expected, had they really done what he thought they had? His head was pounding, his stomach felt like it was turning summersaults, and his ass throbbed.

"Sora?" Riku tried again. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know." Was Sora's only response.

"You're not sore are you?" Riku was afraid of the answer the last thing he would have wanted was to have hurt Sora.

"Sore?" Sora asked weakly, the knot in his stomach tightened and his head started to spin even faster.

"Yeah you know…" Riku gave a weak shrug "Last night…"

Sora seemed to get even paler. "Oh my God…"

Riku winced; he hadn't meant to take advantage of Sora like that. He decided that it would be wiser to let Sora deal with this on his own. So he got out of bed and wrapped his housecoat around himself and went to collect Sora's things from the basement and bring them and his bag up to him.

Sora wasn't sure if it was the hangover or the realization of what had happened that was making him feel like this. His heart was beating a mile a minute, his stomach was doing flip-flops, and his vision was spinning around the room. He had to deal with this he had to get off the floor, but every time he tried to lift one of his un-naturally heavy limbs they just seemed to get heavier. It wasn't very long before Riku returned, Sora could see him standing above him. "I brought your things up." He emphasized this point by placing Sora's bag down next to him. "I'm going to get dressed myself."

Sora stole a quick glance at his friend blushing as he realized that Riku had now removed the coat and was digging through his drawers completely naked. He guessed he had already seen it before now anyway. He finally found the energy to move his heavy limbs and he went about getting himself dressed as well.

xxxxxxx

Riku insisted that they stop for breakfast before Sora went to work. Sora protested he did not like the thought of food right now, the way his stomach was protesting right now he wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep any of it down. He was hoping that it would be slow at work so that he could crash in a corner or something; breakfast was not on his to-do list. However Riku kept insisting. "Come on Sora I don't want to eat anymore then you. But you have to it'll make you feel better."

Sora shook his head vigorously, "No food, I don't want anything."

"Yes food now come on." Riku then pulled Sora into a fast food joint.

Sora felt his stomach start to flop all over again. "This is not breakfast Riku." He reprimanded, greasy fast food was the absolute last thing on his mind.

"Just go sit down." Riku instructed. That was one thing Sora was glad to do. He sat down in the nearest booth and buried his face in his arms and waited for Riku to return. He didn't have to wait long, at this time in the morning most people didn't go for burgers and fries so it was almost empty and the staff was plentiful. Riku returned to Sora with a tray full of food.

"You're going to eat all of that?" Sora asked eyeing the food warily.

"No you're going to help me." With that Riku handed Sora a burger, and commanded him sternly. "Eat it."

Sora pushed it away. "No." He stubbornly replied.

"You're going to eat that Sora, you're not going to leave until you've eaten at least that."

"You can't make me." Sora was adamant. "I'll be late for work."

"I don't really care if you're there on time or not, you will eat it, and you should eat it before it gets cold or then it'll be even worse… and don't pout."

"I'm not pouting." Sora looked at the wrapped sandwich and sighed he may as well give it a try. So slowly he opened the wrappings and took a few small bites. "Happy now?"

Riku smiled just a bit. "No eat all of it."

Sora was scowling now. "Fine!" This was when he quickly shoved the rest into his mouth consuming it completely. "Happy now?"

"Have some fries." Riku said as he pushed the cardboard container of fries towards the younger boy.

"No."

"Yes."

"No I don't want to Riku and you can't make me."

Riku shrugged his shoulders "Fine then more for me." He started to eat the fries one at a time making over indulgent sighs of satisfaction as if the fries were the best things he had ever eaten. It was like they had never been apart Riku knew just how to push all of Sora's buttons.

"Maybe I'll have a few…"

xxxxxxx

Sora arrived at work alone a few minute early still feeling woozy. It was just his luck to that Yuffie had to be working that morning. She greeted him as enthusiastically as ever. "Mornin' Sora how was the birthday?" She bounced over to him, pins from the display she was working on still in her hands.

"Fine." Sora said as he went to put his bag in the back.

Zidane was already back there, and he happened to notice Sora's disposition right off the bat. "Whoa, are you okay?"

"Fine." Sora dropped his bag onto a nearby chair and went back to the sales floor, Zidane following closely behind.

"What the hell did Cloud do to you?" Zidane asked. "I mean come on you had all of yesterday off."

"A friend stopped by yesterday." Sora explained in short form.

Yuffie started laughing. "Oh wait until Cloud sees you. Honestly you look like crap Sora."

Zidane nodded his head in agreement. "And he's not really known for letting people go home when they've got hangovers." He gave Sora a knowing look. "I know how rough it can be."

"Yeah and it's always your fault anyway." Yuffie said poking Zidane firmly in the side.

Sora groaned he forgot that Cloud was working today; suddenly he was overcome with flashes from this morning and the goodnight kiss from Cloud the night before. He wished he could just disappear until his shift was over. He was for once, not looking forward to seeing Cloud. His worst fear at this point of time was the moment Cloud came through that door.

As if echoing his thoughts he heard the door chime go, he snapped his head up in fear, no it couldn't be like this, this must be someone's idea of a cruel joke. It was to his relieve however when it wasn't Cloud but a customer instead. He felt his heart slow and his breathing even at least until he noticed that the door hadn't closed all the way but instead had reopened, and Cloud walked in. He felt as if his heart was about to explode.

xxxxxxx

Author Notes: Whooo yeah plot plot plot plot, you all must love/hate me right now. I decided to cut the scene between Sora and Riku for a couple of reasons 1. Sora would have killed me. 2. This story is about Sora and Cloud not Riku 3. The events are still important and relevant 4. I'm just evil like that. I decided that I really wanted to get Sora just absolutely hammered; I think he'd be such a fun drunk.

So tell me what you think I need to know, now that I'm finally starting to really get into things Next chapter Sora has to face up to Cloud …so excited for that.

Remember to leave a review.

Edit: some spelling and grammatical errors fixed: 08-25-06


	11. Chapter 9

You Could be the Reason

Chapter 9

Author Notes: I've come to realize something, ycbtr is over a year old now, back in February was its first birthday… I should have done something for it. Like updated or something. Oh yeah I apologize for the stupid type-o's last chapter, I'll try to make up for that… honestly Sora's bad… I meant bag…. I also apologize in advance for any more stupid errors in this chapter. I honestly think I should start getting this thing beta-ed.

* * *

Sora groaned he forgot that Cloud was working today; suddenly he was overcome with flashes from this morning and the goodnight kiss from Cloud the night before. He wished he could just disappear until his shift was over. He was for once, not looking forward to seeing Cloud. His worst fear at this point of time was the moment Cloud came through that door.

As if echoing his thoughts he heard the door chime go, he snapped his head up in fear, no it couldn't be like this, this must be someone's idea of a cruel joke. It was to his relieve however when it wasn't Cloud but a customer instead. He felt his heart slow and his breathing even at least until he noticed that the door hadn't closed all the way but instead had reopened, and Cloud walked in. He felt as if his heart was about to explode.

No it was too soon, Sora hadn't had enough time to prepare himself for this confrontation. He wasn't even sure if he could have dealt with it even without the events of the previous night. Sora knew he looked like hell, he knew that there was no way he could hide anything from Cloud right now. Would he be forced to tell what happened, would Yuffie and Zidane hear it too? Silent panic was over taking Sora right then, Clouds gaze upon him was piercing it felt like Cloud could see into the brunette's soul right about then. Sora's outlandish ideas only grew when scowled in his direction. He knew, somehow that Cloud had and idea of what happened, how was it possible? Was it written on his face? Maybe he was wearing a sign that he didn't know about. Riku might have stuck one on his back or his ass 'Riku was here' Sora could see it now, he checked quick just to make sure there really wasn't anything there.

Clouds scowl deepened. "Sora can I talk to you in the back room?" He made a motion to signify that he would be back there shortly.

Sora's stomach sunk, this was it he was done for. Slowly he shuffled into the backroom, surely Cloud hated him, now he was going to lose his job and Cloud would never want to see him ever again. Sora sunk into one of the very few and far in between plastic chairs that were stored against the east wall and waited for Cloud to come the whole time his mind twisting and warping his situation causing it to grow into an out of control fiend that would surely drive him to the edge.

He just about couldn't take it anymore and was contemplating over the idea of leaving and never coming back when Cloud finally entered the little room, sealing it off from the sales floor behind him. Cloud sighed wearily as he grabbed another chair and pulled it closer to Sora. Sora could only look guiltily up at him.

"I hear that you're a little hung over today." He leaned back in his chair and smiled at Sora. "What was one night not enough for you?"

"I-I didn't mean to I mean I-"

Cloud cut him off. "Hey you're not in trouble; I just want to make sure that you're okay." Again that little smile, Sora wanted to swat it away. "You are okay right?"

This was it? "Y-yeah… I guess"

"You guess?" Apparently that wasn't a good enough answer. "Did something happen last night Sora?"

Sora could feel his heart beat increase rapidly beating harder and faster, his head felt light almost like it was about to float off his shoulders, his stomach was doing rolls and he had to suppress the urge to vomit right then. He shouldn't have come in today he should have just gone home called in sick and spent the whole day laying in bed and wallowing in his own guilt and self pity. He still couldn't believe what had happened; he couldn't believe that he would allow himself to do such a thing. With all people… Riku. He didn't want to have this talk right now not with Cloud he needed Wakka, Wakka would know what to do right now. But would Wakka ever talk to him again once he found out. Sora knew that he'd have to tell someone eventually, but not Cloud, not right now.

Sora shook his head almost violently. "No nothing happened." He never made eye contact; he would spill his guts if he looked into those baby blues.

"Okay fine…" Cloud looked Sora over. "You look like Shit."

"I know, I've been told" Sora said weakly, he would pass out soon.

"So who did you go drinking with?" Cloud asked.

"No one important…. Just a friend."

"I thought you said all of your friends were out of town." Cloud crossed his arms over his chest. "Or have they come back now. Come on do I know him? Give me a name."

Sora shook his head, "like I said it's no one important."

"So I'm curious." He cocked one eyebrow, a challenge?

The younger boy let out a slow breath. "Riku."

Cloud stared at him, as if he was processing this information. "Riku? You mean the same kid who gave you that black eye?"

Sora nodded dumbly, what should he do now?

"What the hell were you thinking Sora!" Cloud suddenly burst out, springing up from his chair.

Whoa, Sora was stunned, did Cloud just yell at him? It took time but Sora's mind started to process what Cloud was doing, it was his choice who he'd see and who he wouldn't Cloud was just judging him and Riku. He wanted to argue he wanted to tell Cloud that he didn't care what he had to say but all that came out of his mouth was a lame response. "I dunno."

"Sora that kids no good for you, you may have been friends at one point but all he's going to do is try to take advantage of you." Cloud was angry, defiantly he thought Sora was smarter then to go get drunk with a kid who obviously hated him, but he used a soft tone he didn't mean to upset Sora.

But still tears came to Sora's eyes. "All he's going to do is try to take advantage of you." Those words swam through Sora head over taking all thought and lead him to one conclusion… Riku had taken advantage of him; Riku had taken his virginity, Riku… who was once his friend. The tears started to flow. "I-" Sora started but was stopped by the lump in his throat.

Suddenly Cloud arms were around him rocking him gently back and forth. "It's okay Sora I'm not mad at you, you didn't do anything wrong." Cloud tried to reassure him, Sora seemed off Cloud hadn't expected him to start crying or anything.

"N-no it's just…" Sora started.

Cloud used one finger to lift Sora's chin up forcing the smaller boy to look him in the eye. More tears came and Sora completely broke done.

"Your right he did." Sora threw himself into Clouds shoulder and started to sob. Cloud was more then a little stunned.

It dawned upon Cloud that suddenly he was a responsible adult and he never should have let this happen to Sora, he couldn't believe that a former friend could have ever done something like this to Sora, how far had it gone? What had happened? He held Sora until he could feel his sobbing ease and he was left with little trembles running through the small frame. "Sora… do you want to go home?" Sora shook his head. Cloud honestly didn't want Sora here in this condition, he was worried for the boy and wanted to find out exactly what happened. So he pried Sora off of his shoulders and got him a glass of water. He needed to talk to Yuffie and Zidane so he left Sora in the back room, promising he'd be right back.

Out on the floor Yuffie and Zidane had a cardboard box open from the newest shipment and were taking the clothing out of it and putting them onto hangers. They both looked over at Cloud when he came out; Zidane was the first to ask the question hanging in the air. "Is Sora okay?"

"I don't know." Cloud gave his honest answer. "I want to take him home; do you think you could work over time Zidane?" He nodded right away; Yuffie looked for once honestly worried. "I'm going to call Irvine and see if he'll come in and help you close up tonight."

Yuffie appeared at Clouds back, who had turned to pick the phone off of the base. "Is he sick Cloud?"

Cloud shook his head. "I shouldn't really say anything." Cloud never noticed before how close Yuffie had gotten to Sora. "Maybe he'll tell you when he's feeling better." He offered to try and cheer her up, still she was visibly upset.

He called Irvine quickly who was annoyed to have to come into work on his day off but agreed to come anyway. Cloud had brought Sora back onto the floor where he was placed in charge of organizing the new stock back out of the way where customers wouldn't disturb him. Since Sora didn't want to go home but Cloud didn't want Sora at work he decided that he was going to take him back to his apartment, at least there Sora would be able to deal with his problems and hopefully Cloud would be able to help him. They would leave as soon as Irvine got there.

Cloud keep looking up from his business whenever he caught sight of a car pulling into the little parking lot to the side, he was anxiously waiting for Irvine to show up. Luckily Irvine wasn't the type to dawdle and he showed up in only a half hour after Cloud had called him. Cloud thanked Irvine about three times before he got Sora and himself ready and out of the store. Irvine's only response was that Cloud should remember this when raise time comes around.

* * *

It would figure the one time Cloud really didn't want Leon in the apartment, would have to be the one time he actually was there. Cloud didn't say anything to Leon but instead guided Sora into the apartment and told him to sit on the couch facing east, a perfect place to sit and look out the picture window. The sun was starting to go down to the west to it was an ideal place to watch the island go by without the harsh light in your eyes. Cloud promised that he'd make Sora something to eat, and then he left for the kitchen leaving Sora alone with Leon.

In the kitchen Cloud couldn't help but worry about Sora, he really didn't want to leave him alone in the living room with Leon but he didn't want to make him sit on one of the largely uncomfortable bar stools in the kitchen. Cloud just had to reassure himself that Sora would be fine with Leon, after all Leon would probably be better in a situation like this then Cloud ever would be. He decided that it would be best to find something for the frail boy to eat. After tossing around ideas like soup and crackers, or steak, steak? What the hell Cloud? He decided that it would probably be best for him to eat something light. So he decided on toast, who doesn't love toast?

He put the bread in the toaster, belittling himself for dawdling as he got the butter from the fridge, he pausing trying to decide what Sora would like on his toast when Leon came into the room. "Cloud" He said as if to announce his presence.

"Yeah what is it Leon." Cloud said with his head still in the fridge holding two different kinds of jam.

"Cloud." Leon said a little more sternly.

"What do you want Leon?" Cloud turned at looked at him feeling slightly annoyed, he was about to brush him off with an 'I'm busy' but stopped when he saw Leon's grave expression. "What happened?"

"I think Sora might have been raped."

* * *

Several hours had passed and Sora was asleep in the other room in Clouds bed. Cloud had called Sora's home and explained to his mother that Sora would probably be staying the night. She sounded a little worried but agreed to it, after Cloud reassured her that Sora would be fine there. He never told her anything that had happened that day or the night previous, that would be for Sora to explain when he felt up to it. Currently Cloud and Leon sat awkwardly in the living room.

Apparently Leon really was better in a situation like this seeing as how he got Sora's story out of him. He was also the one to get Sora to eat anything and he was also the one who got Sora off to bed. Once Sora was asleep Leon had told everything that Sora had said to Cloud, and now the only thing Cloud had left to do was to sit and digest everything. Sora he was still just a kid, kids made mistakes sometimes and it was defiantly a mistake that Sora did, apparently he wasn't so good a judge of character, but Cloud didn't blame him.

Why did this have to happen now, when school was so close to starting again? Sora only had two shifts left at the midnight tree. Then next Monday a week from now he'd be back there, back close to Riku again everyday of the week. Cloud wanted nothing else but to go punch the kid out. Leon had already explained it to Cloud that such an action probably wouldn't help their situation very much.

Cloud couldn't stop blaming himself, even though he hadn't seen Sora the day before he shouldn't have drank so much on Sora's birthday he had set a bad example, or he should have stopped in yesterday morning. Why didn't he go, besides the fact that he had been nursing his own hangover yesterday. Honestly, why did he have to act so irresponsible? He couldn't even remember how he got home the night of Sora's birthday.

"Leon you drove Sora home after our party right?" Cloud asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Yes and you walked him to the door and kissed him goodnight." Leon responded, he had a book in his hands now.

Yep just the answer Cloud thought it would be, wait… "I kissed him goodnight?"

"Yes you did."

Cloud had a feeling that the situation had just grown worse, at least in his mind. "On the cheek right?"

"No, honestly Cloud if you're going to keep asking me stupid question, your never going to be allowed to go out again." Leon turned his attention back to his book, a clear indication that the conversation was now over.

"Oh shit." Cloud said quietly to himself.

That night Cloud slept on the long couch feeling dejected that Leon wouldn't let him share his bed.

Cloud woke up the next morning stiff and sore from his night on the couch, but lucky for him he could smell breakfast cooking at least he wouldn't have to do that. He made his way into the kitchen and as he thought Leon was standing over the stove top and was frying some eggs. "Hey" Cloud said as he sat on one of the wooden stools at the kitchen island.

"Morning." Leon said not looking away from the eggs. "Breakfast is almost ready do you want to go get Sora up." It wasn't a question it was an order.

"Yes sir." Cloud said mock saluting Leon, then left and went to wake Sora.

It wasn't difficult Sora was still fast asleep in Clouds bed; Cloud entered the room as quietly as he could, an action that seemed useless since he was here to wake the boy up anyway. Still he couldn't just bring himself to do it. He could see the back of Sora's head from the doorway the normally unruly spikes were even worse, slightly flattened out on one side from the pillow. As he slowly made his way around the bed he noticed how Sora had the blankets piled up around him even though the room was warm. When he reached the head of the bed he knelt down so he could look Sora in the face, he looked so content, and Cloud really didn't want to wake him up. He could hear Sora's peaceful slow breathing, and he could see the boy's eyelashes sitting upon his check.

Cloud decided to try and wake him in the most peaceful way he knew how. He sat on the bed and leaned down put one hand on Sora shoulder and whispered his name in his ear. "Sora, Sora, wake up its morning." He got no response so he tried again a little louder, still the same result nothing. He ended up having to shake Sora by the shoulders and was almost at the point of trying a light slap to the face when Sora finally opened his eyes.

"What is it Cloud?" He asked as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

"Leon commanded me to wake you up breakfast should be ready."

The rest of the week passed quickly and Sora tried his best to "ignore" his little problem, mostly he avoided Riku and spent most of the week inside the Midnight Tree whether he was on shift or not. His excuse was that this was the last week there anyway; in fact his last shift was on Friday. Sadly this coming Monday would be the first day of his last year in high school. That Saturday was the big blitzball game but he figured Riku would be there (which he was, with Kairi) so he instead spent it indoors on the phone with Leon, with who he had found a fast friend. Far too quickly, at least for Sora, Monday was here.

As he walked into the hallways he feared that everyone would know what happened, that he would see posters up on the walls, that people would stand in the hallways and snigger at him. This was not the case however it was quiet no one paid any mind to him besides Tidus who quickly started to tell him off for not showing up at the game. The school year always started off with a large general assembly where old students would meet up with old friends and new students met new teachers. Wakka was waiting for Sora and Tidus at the entrance to the gymnasium.

He greeted them with his familiar cheerful Wakka smile™. "Hey Sora long time no see. We missed you at the game, Ya."

"Yeah sorry Wakka." Was Sora's rather lame reply, he was still in no mood to be here.

"No kidding, I already told him off once about it. Geeze Sora you never miss a game, see I told you, ya should have joined up this year. That would have been so much fun we all would have kicked but together in that last game. If you would have been with us I'm sure we would have won for sure. The least you could have done was show up to cheer us on, I mean if it had been you at the-"

"Tidus knock it of man, I told ya Sora musta had a real good reason for not showing up." Wakka cut him off before Tidus could go in full blow rant mood. "So… why weren't ya there Sora?"

"…something came up." Sora's mind was drifting off, wishing he could crawl back into bed and call Leon's cell right about now.

Tidus rolled his eyes as he led the way to some seats near the back of the gymnasium bleachers. "Yeah that completely explains it."

"Something up man?" Wakka said forcing Sora to sit between him and Tidus that way Sora might be able to explain himself with out having to lean over to far. Sora meekly shook his head. "What did you do all summer anyway?"

"Got a job." Sora explained, he wished he was there now. He knew this morning Zidane and Irvine would be there this morning and they'd be fighting over the radio as they usually did, that always made him laugh, he needed a laugh right now.

"Cool! So lunch is on Sora today!" Tidus perked up, the promise of lunch seemed to make him forget about the blitzball match. "Hey what about the birthday, now you can buy us booze too!"

"Forget it I'm never drinking anything ever again." Sora snapped, too bad the principal was in the middle of his traditional beginning of the year speech otherwise he would have just gotten up and left then. He felt his stomach drop and he felt rather sick, how long would it take for him to forget about "it".

"Sounds like you had a bad run in let me guess bad night with the tequila." Tidus interjected.

"Stuff it Tidus." Was Sora's only reply. Sora missed the look of concern that crossed Wakka's features briefly.

They spent the rest of the assembly quiet only half listening to the welcoming speeches and the advice to the new students and the usual announcements, now being seniors this was all old news. Finally they were all excused and the students scattered attempting to find there new homerooms. Sora's was in a corner room on the second floor, 'great' he thought glumly to himself as he walked into the room. This room was infamous for being the hottest room in the school thanks to the two walls of glass the room featured.

"Oh man not this room." Tidus whined from behind him. The two shared homeroom this year Wakka was in another room. "All well no matter where you sit its going to be warm in here." Tidus explained as he took a seat away from the windows.

Sora sat next to him and stared at his hands clasped in front of him, the first day was notorious for being a waste of time, mostly it was just a day to meet your teachers and the students who would be sharing the class with you and usually many people were late. Sora being the good student that he normally was usually, spent this day looking around at the people around him curiously, it wasn't often that he got to meet new people and the islands being rather small only had so many young people to put into a school so quite often some students would come from the mainland. He liked to keep track of how many new people had come, but this year he stared at his hands and didn't look up until he heard Tidus groan "oh no" next to him.

Sora looked up to the door and walking in was no other then Kairi, rather typically of her she was wearing a short pink dress. She was looking around the room Sora guessed looking for people she knew, when she spotted him and Tidus sitting there he saw her smile and wave. Sora snapped his eyes back to his hands and he could see Tidus give a weak wave out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh don't come this way." Sora heard Tidus mutter; obviously Kairi had intentions to come sit with them.

Of course she didn't listen to Tidus, probably because she never heard him. She sat on Sora right and greeted them cheerfully. "Hey guys I haven't talked to you in so long."

Sora stared at his hands and Tidus was indignant.

"Gee probably because you were to busy being little miss. Popular to take notice of us little people."

"I'm really sorry about that, you don't have to worry about that anymore Selphie and I decided that Sean and those guys are no good." She leaned over like she had a juicy little secret to share. "You know Sean tried to molest Selphie. Can you believe that I mean what a jerk! He hit his girlfriend too; she went back to the mainland because of it."

Sora was just starting to get interested when this years TA walked into the room. She was a middle aged woman with curly hair that Sora remembered seeing in the hallways before. She smiled sweetly and began to introduce herself turning her back to the class and writing her name on the board. "Greetings everyone my name is Ms. Lisi." She paused a moment then continued. "I know you don't want to all listen to me talk so I'll try to be quick. As you all know I'll be your teacher advisor for the year and I want you all to feel comfortable around me, after all I'm here and I'll be open to listen to all of your problems so don't be shy to come up and talk to me. They're starting a new program this year so everyday you have to come back here for an hour, welcome to the beginning of reading period." Several students groaned at this announcement and Sora stopped listening, he didn't care about this kind of stuff anymore.

Tidus had his chin resting on his arms that were crossed on the table, his eyes glassed over obviously not paying any attention, and Kairi she had a notebook out and was writing something down. Sora turned back to the teacher but quickly found Kairi's notebook in his lap. There was a note written on it, just like they did back in the old days. Sora read it. 'Reading period that sucks.' It said Sora grabbed his pen and wrote back a response. 'it would do you good.'

'your mean Sora'

'I know.'

'Hey Sora why didn't you tell us you were working for the midnight tree?'

'Did you forget that you weren't exactly talking to me at the time?'

'oh yeah I'm sorry for what Riku did'

Sora paused at this note… What Riku did. Did he tell her? He decided to play it safe, deny it. 'what do you mean?'

'For when he hit you, he's been really weird lately, all like bi-polar and stuff'

Sora couldn't help but feel a little relieved, that meant that she didn't know and if Kairi didn't know that meant no one did. 'are you still seeing him?'

'maybe'

'what do you mean maybe?'

'I just don't know, he was off all summer but this last week he's been unbearable'

Guilt started to knot Sora's stomach up, he felt a little sick. What had he done he didn't know that Riku had been 'off' as Kairi had put it. 'I'm sorry' He wrote, it didn't amend anything and it's not like she knew exactly anyway.

'it's not your fault' she had something scratched out following that then another sentence. 'what are you doing for lunch?'

'I don't know I think I'm buying it for Tidus though'

* * *

Sora, Wakka, Tidus, Selphie, and Kairi met up just outside the door to exit the school at lunch time. Tidus was in full on rant about how there TA liked to talk and talk and talk. She had a bad habit of going off on a tangent about her family or something to that extent while she was talking. "To make matters worse I've got her for English this afternoon!" Tidus finished off.

"Wow she sounds pretty crappy." Selphie said. She changed the subject quickly. "You like my new sunglasses?"

"Totally cute." Kairi responded.

Wakka was a little put out when he had spotted Sora walking toward him with Kairi and Selphie at his side, and so far he hadn't said anything but he chose this lapse in the conversation to ask the question that had been mulling at the back of his mind. "What is with you two, why aren't you with your popular friends?"

"'cause most of them are total dirt bags." Selphie explained "They made this summer such a bore, plus they've been a bad influence of Riku I think."

"What makes you think it was them?" Sora asked, guilt sending his stomach into spins.

"I dunno he's just been weird." Selphie explained in traditional Selphie fashion.

"What do you mean by weird?" Tidus asked. "He was just a jerk last time I saw him."

"Just weird, he spent like a week locked up in his room earlier; he wouldn't even answer my calls. He also spent a lot of time on the play island, and just this last week has been the worst." Kairi answered.

Selphie expanded when she noticed Wakka's confused expression. "I saw him like last Thursday and tried to talk to him but he wasn't making any sense. Something about a blonde guy and bad breakfast."

Sora got the bad breakfast remembering their pit stop at the grease trap on his way to work, but the blonde guy? That had him lost.

"I haven't seen 'im in the hallways and he's supposed to be in my math class." Wakka said. "I haven't' seen 'im yet though, wasn't in class."

"No I haven't either." Selphie said pondering what this could mean.

Tidus started to laugh, "Maybe his parents took him to a shrink."

No one laughed with him, Sora started to feel even worse. "It's not funny Tidus." Kairi scolded.

"Well maybe not to you" Tidus still couldn't hold back his laughter. "Right Sora that would be friggin' funny."

Sora didn't answer though instead he frowned and chewed on his bottom lip.

"Hey, Sora you alright man?" Wakka asked. Forcing Sora to stop walking by placing his hand on Sora's shoulder.

"Huh, yeah I'm okay. I'll meet you guys at the food court I've just got to make a phone call."

So the rest went off to the small food court that existed in the mini-mall across the street from the school. It was simply called 'across' for the number of students went there. Inside there was the foot court, and small convenience store, and the local grocery store was attached to it as well.

Kairi was to impatient though plus she was worried for her old friend so when Sora hadn't returned by the time they were all starting to eat she went to look for him. She didn't have far to go, he was standing outside just away from the door with his cell to his ear. Kairi didn't really want to listen in to his conversation but she was curious who Sora could be talking to. After all he wasn't the type to be calling home to him mom, or least he wasn't before. So she snuck up close so that she might be able to figure it out for herself.

"No- I mean I know it's wrong… I know… but they keep talking about him and I just feel- guilty." Sora paused here listening to whoever was on the other end and Kairi couldn't help but notice how put out he seemed, his normally cheerful voice was quiet and a little sad. What did he have to feel guilty about? "Yeah I could come over after school, is he going to be there? – no oh right he's got a shift tonight… okay I'll see you around 4."

Kairi didn't want to look like she had been listening in, even if she had, so she quickly retreated a bit then turned and made it look like she was just coming. "Hey Sora I was getting worried."

"Oh sorry, just had to finish up my call." He apologized and the two turned to go in.

"Who where you talking to anyway?" Kairi couldn't hold in her curiosity.

"No one important, just a friend."

"Riku?"

"No – it's no one you know." Sora waved at there table and got in a line to get himself some food, Kairi stuck around.

"So could I meet your friend that I don't know."

"I don't think so. You're not really his type." Sora responded not looking at her.

Kairi laughed a bit. "I said meet not date Sora."

"He's a little sullen." Sora let the conversation drop at that and Kairi went back to there table.

* * *

Author Notes: This should probably be a little bit longer then it is, but this seems like a good place to stop. I know, I know I take forever to update and this chapter was a little um… choppy. I kind of lost where I was going with this chapter so I started in something new something a little more interesting. Oh and fact: I don't hate Kairi actually I've never really minded her and in KH2 I really like her, and her outfit that dress is the cool. Right so why this one took forever to update… well first the end of school was crazy I just managed to pass my art history class XP then I was having computer problems, it was overheating so I took it to get fixed. Idiot tech told me to just turn it off every once in a while… bleh, oh and if you have any questions about Sora's behavior or anything of the what not leave me a note in my journal with your e-mail or contact info and I'll answer. (journal link can be found in my bio) 


	12. Chapter 10

You Could be the Reason

Chapter 10

Author Notes: I hate the way Wakka talks. Okay so July was a busy month for me. I thought I'd get this up before I went out of town Friday. Going to a wedding, it's gonna be fun.

* * *

To Sora the rest of the school day passed by agonizingly slow, just the same repetitive things over and over again. Course outline, idiot students, the painfully slow tick of the clock, the same thing as the previous years past. What was only a few hours felt like an entire day for Sora was anxious to get onto his meeting with Leon. Truthfully honestly this would be the first time Sora would be able to talk to Leon in person without Cloud being there. Sure they had talked a lot on the phone lately, but Leon in person was completely different. A lot more intimidating. And to top things off Sora knew that Kairi would try her best to tag along to meet Leon, something he was adamant should not happen. Leon might implode.

Looking back to the clock for about the zillionth time that class Sora noticed that it was finally starting to near 3:30. Finally he'd be free of this place and onto better things. He was sitting in his final period English class and just like Tidus he was trapped with the confines of Ms. Lisi. The novelty of having an Italian teacher had worn off in their homeroom period, she liked to talk a lot, and talk she did Sora liked to not listen to her. Instead he stared at Tidus who sat between him and the window. Tidus had spent the class doing two things, looking out the window, and making faces at Sora. Currently he had his nostrils flared, his eyes crossed, and his tongue twisted upside down. Sora rolled his eyes and gave him a thumbs down, defiantly not one of his better faces Sora was sure.

Ms. Lisi was in the middle of a story about her third cousin Demitri when the students started to pack up the belongings on their desks. The advantage to not having any bells between classes was that usually you left five minutes early since the teachers really couldn't do much to keep an entire class seated and in the room.

Sora was one of the first to bolt from the room leaving Tidus behind, surely racing to catch up. Sora had one thing in mind to get to his locker and to get out. However it didn't happen that smoothly unfortunately. Wakka was there already leaning casually against the metal door of Sora's locker obviously waiting for him. Sora sighed and decided to face the inevitable, he'd have to talk to Wakka before he left. That would seriously slow him down… even if it was just a little. "Hey" he greeted.

Wakka smiled and stood up straight, no longer leaning. "Hi, I talked to Kairi ya."

"Oh? What did she have to say?" Sora really wasn't that interested, truth be told he still hadn't accepted the fact that magically he, Tidus, and Wakka were talking to the girls again.

"Not much.. just mentioned sumthing about you meetin' with a mysterious friend. So she sent me 't stall ya till she got here."

Sora sighed, he knew it! "I figured as much."

Wakka nodded to someone down the hallway, obviously Kairi. "Alright be seeing ya tomorrow, bye Sora." With that and a small wave to Kairi Wakka left.

Sora wondered briefly if he'd be able to run quick before Kairi was able to catch up to him. "Hi Sora!" Not possible he'd just have to face her now.

"Hi." He turned and opened his locker, maybe if he just sort of ignored her she'd go away.

"I know what you said about your friend earlier but I figure he can't be that bad. It is a he right? I mean Sora you made a new friend I want to meet him. I promise I won't overstay my welcome I mean I don't want to infringe or anything." Kairi rambled on. Apparently ignoring her only gave her a larger window to talk in.

"Listen Kairi I already told you that he's not really-"

"Oh come on Sora don't be such a stick in the mud. I mean why wouldn't he like me?" Kairi pressed on.

"Well for one he doesn't like people who interrupt."

"Okay I get the hint. I promise I'll be on my best behavior, Please Sora I'm begging here."

Sora slammed his locker shut now book free he might just be able to run away from her. "Kairi." He gave as a warning.

"Okay hear me out. Just introduce me to him and I'll go on my merry little way, besides I want to try and get a hold of Riku later."

Oh right him, Sora felt his stomach knot up at the thought. Now he was extra glad that he was going to see Leon. "Fine but just don't stick around."

Kairi jumped up immediately and threw her arms around Sora's neck acting far to much like a puppy who was promised to go out for a walk. "Oh thank you thank you thank you Sora! I promise I'll make a good first impression! This guy must be something if your being this protective."

"Yeah well whatever, can we leave now?" Sora was getting impatient.

"Come on what are we waiting for? Move em on out!" Kairi then proceeded to drag Sora out of the school.

The trip was actually pleasant Sora was surprised to find, the weather was typical of the islands usual late summers, warm with a cool breeze. Everything was green and bright not that it was ever brown in this tropical climate. As he and Kairi walked toward the islands industrial center they chatted naturally reminding Sora of the days that had passed by, making him feel a little sentimental. Maybe if Kairi acted like this around Leon it wouldn't be so bad, he still feared the worst however.

When they approached the outer doors to the apartment Leon and Cloud shared Sora took in a steadying breath and Kairi giggled with excitement. Sora shot Kairi an annoyed looked and she immediately apologized and forced Sora's finger to the buzzer, grinning at Sora's second annoyed look.

Leon answered the buzz with a simple "Yeah?"

With one last warning look to Kairi Sora replied. "Hey it's me."

There was no other response from Leon just the buzz of the door being unlocked Sora mentally wished he could run through the door and leave Kairi locked outside. However he was far to nice to actually do that to her. On there way up the few flights of stairs Sora could tell Kairi was restraining herself, absently he wondered if he should have given Leon some forewarning of the girls presence. Too late now anyway, so Sora pressed on.

When they exited the stairway and headed down the hallway to the apartment Kairi spoke up again. "Does your friend live alone?"

Sora shook his head. "No, he has a roommate."

"Oh is he going to be there as well?" Kairi asked innocently.

"No he's at work."

The were now outside the door, Sora raised his hand to knock but paused. Yes he really should have gave Leon some sort of warning about Kairi. Too late Kairi beat Sora to it and she was the one who rapped her knuckles against the wooden door. Moments later Leon opened said door.

"Hey." Sora said uncomfortably.

"Hi!" Kairi perked up from beside Sora, grinning from ear to ear.

Leon said nothing he just moved aside to let the two into the apartment raising his eyebrow as Sora passed by, a silent question 'who?'

Once settled into the little living room Sora made the introductions. "Leon this is Kairi –a friend from school, she insisted on coming and she won't be staying long. Kairi, Leon."

"Hi so nice to meet you, I'm so glad to see that Sora's making new friends." Kairi offered her hand to Leon, he took it briefly in a quick shake and just as quickly withdrew it. After all no one ever said Leon had no manners. Sora shifted next to Kairi on the couch uncomfortably. Sora was here to talk to Leon for a reason, a reason he really didn't want Kairi to know about. What could the three of them possibly talk about that wouldn't feel as awkward as Sora felt right then.

Kairi was smiling from ear to ear next to Sora but she didn't say anything, obviously waiting for one of the two boys to say something first. There was a quiet "um…" from Sora and a small grunt from Leon. So Kairi seeing that she wasn't going to get any response continued on. "You see I've known Sora for years and years we go waaaay back. We used to spend all our time on this little island, it's still really neat to go back to every once and a while. I remember-"

Leon broke in abruptly, "Sora's told me about it."

"Hey Kairi, shouldn't you call Selphie." Sora said suddenly hoping to switch the topic.

"Why would I?" Kairi questioned.

"I got the feeling you were needing to talk to her earlier, so maybe you should head home and call her right away." Sora pulled Kairi to her feet and began to push her toward the door. "And hey this works out great for all of us, you can get your important phone call in before it gets late and Leon and I can discuss what I came here for. You got to meet him like you wanted to and yeah I'll see you tomorrow in homeroom or whatever." Okay so Kairi's little visit was getting cut short a bit, well more then a bit they had just come in a few moments ago.

"Oh…okay, if you say so Sora." Suddenly Kairi pulled herself from Sora's grip and gave Leon a polite bow. "Nice to meet you friend of Sora's Leon."

Sora gave a hasty goodbye and practically pushed her out the door. Sora gave Leon an apologetic smile as he returned to the sofa. "Sorry, I told her it would be better if she didn't come but she insisted and kinda followed along."

Leon nodded his head slightly, a sign that said that he recognized what Sora was saying. "When you called earlier you said that you felt guilty." Just like Leon to dive into something like that head on.

"Well yeah… I felt it whenever they said his name, and whenever they asked where he was." Sora shifted his gaze into his lap, _stay strong this is what you came here for anyway._

"Why?"

"Huh? What? What do you mean why?" Sora thought that the answer should be at least a little bit obvious.

"Do you feel guilty because you have an idea why he wasn't at school and you weren't telling your friends or do you feel guilty because you think it's your fault he's acting like he is?"

"Oh." Sora said dumbly, figures Leon would look further into this then Sora ever would. "I guess it's both. I don't know really I just feel… bad."

"You still need time to accept everything, both you and Riku need to work your problems out. His parents probably clued in that something was wrong, maybe they're the reason he wasn't at school today they might actually be taking care of their child. Perhaps he feels more guilty then you do."

"How does that solve my problem?"

"It doesn't, just something you should think about. You should talk to him about it, that's probably the only way you'll stop feeling like you do. Either that or it'll make you feel worse."

"What!" Sora was really starting to wonder why he ever came to talk to Leon in the first place, this wasn't making him feel any better about the situation. "You're not being very understanding here."

"Those are just the straight facts, theirs no pill that'll make it go away Sora. You have to face the problem." Leon said sternly.

Sora sighed and started to pout. "I know… I just wish it had never happened, I wish that Riku and Kairi had never started dating and that everything was back to normal again."

"If you had to spend a penny for every wish you made Sora, you'd be broke."

"I know… my mom told me that once too." Sora shifted his gaze out the picture window and across the darkening sky. "It's hard to talk to him though if I don't see him."

"You have his phone number don't you?"

"I guess… but this is something I'd rather say face to face. At least I think it is." Sora wished in the back of his mind that the apartment faced west rather then east. It looked like he was missing an amazing sunset right now. Another penny wisely spent.

"Sounds like you just matured a bit."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Oh."

The two sat in silence for a while, Sora looked about himself awkwardly, Leon sat and did whatever it was Leon did. Finally to break the silence Sora asked about the paperwork he saw sitting on the coffee table not far from where he was sitting. "What's all of this?" He motioned towards the papers and noticed Leon's eyes follow.

"They're property reports." Straight forward just like Leon.

"Property reports? What do you need that for?" Sora was interested now. The world of real estate was one he wasn't too familiar with. Plus this got them off the topic of Riku.

"Cloud and I are thinking about buying a house."

"Together?" Defiantly interesting.

"As an investment, real estate values are starting to rise and now would be the time to get into it."

"So you'd be giving up the apartment then?" Sora felt a little pang of loss in the pit of his stomach, he'd grown attached to this place.

"We wouldn't be able to afford both a rent and a mortgage so yes, besides we'll have more space in a house.

"Makes sense I guess. Have you decided which one you like best yet?" Sora asked as he leaned closer to the papers. Up close he noticed that many of them had snapshots attached to them, most were of the exterior of the homes though there were a few interiors mixed into the bunch.

Leon moved over to the couch and started to shift through the papers, finally selecting one and handing it to Sora. "We both seem to be leaning toward this one."

Sora took the pre-offered stack of papers, all neatly stapled together of course. The corners were a little dog-eared probably from Cloud Sora thought. On the front was a picture of the homes exterior. It was a newly built house, that didn't even have a lawn yet. A two story with an attached garage on the front. It was three toned, with the main colour of the house a warm beige in vinyl siding, chocolate brown trim work, and cream coloured railing and doors. There was a wrap around porch that went from the front door and front walk around the side of the house and what Sora presumed to be faux stone columns.

On the first page behind the picture there was a lot of figures and numbers and lines none of which made any sense to Sora, but he didn't want to seem stupid in front of Leon so he made little appreciative sounds. After all if it was something that both Leon and Cloud liked it had to be good. The pages following were much like the first.

"It's really nice, big."

Leon took the papers from Sora and set it on top of the rest. "It doesn't involve a lot of work, most of the homes available need to be fixed up."

"Yeah like mine." Sora had never known his old house to ever be in good repair.

"Cloud said it was nice."

"Well it's alright, mom and I did a lot of work inside, but there's lots of stuff that still needs to be done."

"That's the problem with owning a home, you have to do all the work yourself."

"You don't have to now?" Sora wasn't to familiar with the terms of being a renter.

"No someone else does it." Leon stood up taking all the papers with him.

Probably putting them away somewhere Sora assumed, Leon was after all a neat freak, and he almost certainly didn't like all of Sora's questions. "That would sure make life a lot easier."

Leon was just putting the papers away in a cupboard in the corner of the room when the phone in the kitchen started to ring. "Sora could you get that, it's probably Cloud."

Sora had never answered the phone here before. "Sure." He then vaulted himself from the couch and into the kitchen where he grabbed the only phone in the place from off the wall. "Hello."

"Hey… Sora?" Yep it was Cloud.

"Yeah Leon asked me to get the phone."

"Lazy bum, hey I'm just going to grab something for supper could you let him know."

"Sure." Sora guessed it was pretty much time for him to be leaving anyway.

"You want something too?" Cloud asked.

"Huh?"

"I'm asking if you want to stay for supper Sora." Sora could practically hear Cloud rolling his eyes at the brunettes reaction.

"Uh, sure sounds good."

"Great I'll see you in a bit then."

"See you." Sora heard Cloud hang up on the other end, but he didn't cradle the phone right away. Guess he was going to be there a little longer then he thought.

"Sora?" Leon was looking into the room from the doorway.

"Oh, that was Cloud he wanted me to let you know he's bringing some dinner home."

Leon nodded at that. "Are you staying?"

"I guess Cloud asked me too."

Leon nodded again and left the room. Sora was about to follow when he heard Leons voice. "You should let your mother know."

"Oh right thank you."

* * *

Cloud had arrived with Chinese, which he had set up on the kitchen counter as sort of a mini buffet. Apparently Leon approved of his choice of dinner, or at least that's what Cloud said, in reality he had said that it was better then the McDonalds Cloud had brought home last time. Once the three of them had dished up their dinner they sat down at the small kitchen table (first time for Sora to ever sit there).

"We're going to have to get a new table." Cloud said between bites.

Leon nodded and Sora looked at him confused, "what's was wrong with this table?"

Cloud smiled at him, "Did Leon tell you about the house?"

"Oh yeah it looks great." Sora nodded enthusiastically.

"We get to put in an offer on Wednesday. Hopefully we'll get it." Cloud was very excited about this Sora could tell by the look in his eyes.

"I hope so too."

"It'll be great we'll finally be able to get a pet. For once there isn't someone breathing down our necks about allergies or what the fuck he said about the pet rules, and we'll have enough space for one." Cloud had obviously put a lot of thought about this.

Sora noticed the frown form on Leon's forehead, obviously the landlord wasn't the only one with a problem with pets. But he didn't say anything, he was concentrating on finishing his dinner since Leon had to be off to work very soon.

"We can get a dog, something shaggy with a big wet tongue that likes to go for walks. Arieth liked dogs…"

_uh oh_. Leon quickly got to his feet and put his plate in the sink, and without saying a word he left for work. Sora wasn't the only one who knew what was coming. Cloud had stopped eating and was now poking at the last of his sweet and sour pork looking very glum.

"Cloud?" Sora hoped that Cloud would just need to be distracted.

"We always talked about getting a dog together Arieth and I."

Now this couldn't be good. "You could still get a dog Cloud." Sora hoped that he'd be able to distract Cloud at least just a bit.

"Nah, Leon hates the things, that's why Arieth and I… we…"

Sora decided that it would be his best bet to try to keep up the conversation without mentioning Clouds ex. "Well maybe you could get a little one, there are some really cute ones that don't shed and you could train it to keep off the furniture. I'm sure Leon wouldn't mind one if it was trained and was small enough to stay out of the way."

"Shih Tzu's are like that. Small, quiet, well behaved, don't shed. That's the kind of dog she always wanted."

Sora inwardly sighed looked like the topic couldn't be avoided that easily. So he moved closer to Cloud, the least he could do was comfort the poor guy. "Hey Cloud it's okay. It's in the past right."

"We had a name picked out." Cloud pushed his plate away obviously having lost his appetite.

"Okay that's kinda lame."

Cloud gave Sora a small glare and left the table walking off to the living room. Sora sat there cursing himself, not the smoothest move there. He had two options he could clean up and leave or he could go into that room and make Cloud forget about her, or at least try. Sora picked option B.

Cloud was sitting on the couch opposite the window which he was staring at. It was dark outside so the surface acted more like a mirror then anything else. Leon had told Sora about Clouds often depressed moods but this was the first time Sora had actually seen it for himself. In the window made mirror Sora could see Cloud crouched on the couch with his legs drawn up to his chest and his chin resting on his knees. He could also see his own reflection and Clouds rather nasty glare at it. Sora decided to ignore the look and continued on his way to the couch where he sat himself right next to Cloud, their hips making contact.

"I'm Sorry Cloud, I didn't really mean it."

Cloud said nothing.

Sora sighed. "You sure are acting like a big baby."

Another Glare from the Cloud reflection.

"Okay fine, I really am Sorry Cloud I mean I just don't understand how you can be so caught up on her still."

"I thought you were the sensitive type Sora." Cloud finally spoke up.

"Well I am, I guess I'm just not that good with relationships. Probably because I've never had a real one myself. …I always screw that kind of stuff up. I don't know how to act around someone I like, at least with girls."

Cloud shifted his gaze from the reflection to Sora. "Really?"

Okay so now they had shifted from Clouds insecurities to Sora's, well as long as it would get Cloud to stop pouting Sora guessed it was okay.

"Yeah, I've only ever had one girlfriend, back in my last year of middle school we didn't last all that long."

"What was her name?"

"Naminé." Hopefully this was the right direction to go, Sora didn't know he never really had to talk to someone about a bad relationship before.

"She sounds nice."

Sora shrugged a bit. "We only lasted like two weeks, I still see her sometimes. She's part of the popular crowd at school now."

"So Riku was your first then?"

Whoa! Why was Cloud bringing that up now? Sora now turned his eyes toward the window, he really wasn't able to talk about that quite yet at least not to Cloud.

Cloud didn't say anything, and neither did Sora. They sat for a few minutes in silence, both reflecting in thought. Sora going over how screwed up **his **love life was, he shouldn't be giving out advice, he shouldn't be making Cloud forget about a woman he obviously still has a lot of feelings for. He should be getting home soon too, before he managed to screw up anything else. Yet he couldn't get his legs to move, nor his arms, his head nothing. Suddenly the weight in his heart had moved to the rest of his body making it feel as if his veins were filled with concrete.

It was Cloud that was the first to move, no words were exchanged he simply put his feet to the floor, leaned over, and pressed his lips to Sora's.

The cogs in Sora's head came to a grinding halt, he no longer thought about how he messed up everything he did, he no longer thought about anything but Cloud and the lips that were on his. This, this here wasn't that bad, both he and Cloud were at a lonely station in life maybe the just needed the same thing so Sora gave in, he yielded and returned Clouds kiss.

To Sora it had felt like hours, but in reality it had only been a few seconds before Cloud pulled away with a small smile on his face.

Sora didn't want this to feel awkward, that was the last thing he wanted with Cloud. He knew he liked Cloud and he knew if this had happened only a few weeks earlier he would have probably jumped at the fact that Cloud his now former boss had just kissed him, sober for once. So Sora said the first thing that came to his mind. "Do you still want a dog?"

Cloud laughed softly, "No now I want a little Sora cage so I can keep you in my room all the time."

"In a cage! You can't do that I'm a free spirit here." Sora pulled his bottom lip out into the classic Sora pout.

Cloud laughed again and pulled Sora into a hug. "But that's the only way I'll be able to keep track of you, what with you constantly going off to school and heaven forbid if you think you'll be hanging out with any of your friends now."

"That reminds me… I should get home, mom has this thing with me being out late on a school night."

"Were going to have to discuss that 'mom' situation to."

Sora laughed and decided to keep note that the best way to cheer Cloud up was to plant a kiss on those lips. "I'm serious here Cloud I really should be going."

"Fine, will you be alright walking or would you prefer a ride?" Cloud stood up and offered a hand to Sora.

Sora took the hand gratefully, even if he didn't need it, and was pulled to his feet. "Nah I should be fine walking. It's not that far and besides it's a nice night out there." Was it really night already?

That was how Sora found himself walking alone just outside of the islands small downtown core. It really was a nice night out, there was still plenty of the summer heat from the day rising up off of the cement sidewalks and there was a cool breeze coming off of the water. The smile on Sora's face was natural, in fact right now he probably couldn't stop himself from smiling from ear to ear. School tomorrow was starting to look a little better.

A car horn behind him made Sora look over his shoulder. Coming up alone the street was Tidus in his sisters car. Looks like he was going to get a ride home anyway.

"Hey hot stuff, need a lift." Tidus yelled at Sora out the window.

"Only from a big burly man, I guess I'll just have to keep waiting." Figures only Tidus would say something like that, luckily for him Sora was in a good enough mood to play along with the charade.

"Well I'm pretty sure your just going to have to settle for me at this time of night, get in Sora."

Sora ran around to the passenger side and climbed into the bucket seats. "Still haven't got your own car yet I see."

"Well you spent the whole summer working why don't you buy me one, then I can drive you around whenever you need me to." Tidus laughed as he took off again.

Sora reached for the stereo to mess with the radio settings, Tidus had the worst taste in music. "Yeah but you'd only drive me somewhere if it was convenient for you."

"So where are you heading anyway Sora?" Tidus asked not bother to fight about the radio.

"Home."

"Oh well I guess you'll have to get out then I'm not going that way."

"Ha real funny, you offered the ride now you'd better see it through." Sora had missed Tidus during the summer but he was so caught up with work, he never noticed it until just now. "Hey Tidus?"

"Yeah?"

"I missed you this summer." Sora looked out the window and watched the houses pass by. He really meant it, for some reason he was feeling really sentimental right now. If only Kairi, Wakka, and old Riku were sitting in the back.

"Whoa man, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Tidus sounded a little put off, but they had known each other for so long that it didn't bother the brunette.

Sora shrugged. "I dunno, just thought I'd let you know. I mean I had fun and all the summer but I still kinda missed hanging out at the beach playing blitzball with you and Wakka."

"Yeah me an' Wakka and Kairi and Riku you mean." Yep Tidus knew him all right.

"Sorry."

"What you apologizing for man?" They had just arrived at Sora's house, and Sora wanted nothing more then to just get out of the car and the awkward situation he had just put himself in. When Sora didn't respond and just continued to stare down at his lap Tidus continued. "I know your summer must have been really… different. I know you miss Riku, I mean we all do. I'm actually kind of worried about him, I mean if he's actually acting like Kairi says he is. You know?"

Sora nodded his agreement. "I guess this really isn't all about me then."

"What are you talking about Sora?"

"Nothing."

"I don't mean to be a mood crasher." Tidus gripped the steering wheel so that his knuckles turned white. Sora hadn't noticed when he'd turned the car off. He had been so wrapped up in his own little dilemma that he hadn't even noticed the effect Riku was having on everyone else. Of course Riku's disappearance would be hard on all of his friends, both current and former. He hadn't even thought about Kairi, she was his girlfriend after all, this must be particularly hard on her. He should talk to her about it tomorrow, maybe he should tell her everything that had happened if anyone had a right to know it was her. It was her boyfriend that had cheated.

Sora shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. Tidus hadn't noticed Sora's lack of a response. He was probably to caught up in his own thoughts. "Tidus?"

"Huh? Oh what is it?"

"Thanks for the ride." Sora nodded his head slightly to show his gratitude, even if the ride had ruined his good mood.

"Yeah sure anytime, I guess I'll see you in homeroom tomorrow." Tidus's hand moved to the keys as he started the car again.

Sora left the car and stood on the front walk as he watched Tidus drive away down the block and turn around the corner. He stood there until he couldn't hear the cars engine anymore before he turned around to go into his house. His mother was sitting at the kitchen table she gave him a smile and patted the chair next to him, indicating that he should sit down.

"Welcome home finally. How was school?" She said cheerfully, Sora hated the sound of it.

"It was fine."

"What did you have for dinner?"

It figured she'd double check if he'd eaten anything, not that Sora was the type to skip meals. "Chinese." He answered.

They sat in silence for a while, there was just the sound of the wind outside gently passing though the tropical plants outside the windows and the soft sound of a teacup being placed back on the table.

"Sora I was thinking." Sora gave a sound of acknowledgement. "Why don't your friends ever call me by my name?"

"Because you tell them to call you Sora's mom."

"Maybe they should just start calling me Ann, after all… Kairi used to call me that."

"I guess." Sora looked up at her. "What brought this up all of a sudden?"

"I was just thinking about your older friends, like Cloud, I think they must think it's pretty silly to be calling me Sora's mom all the time. After all, your not in grade school anymore."

Sora looked to the teacup she had recently set down. He guessed that maybe he wasn't the only one to have matured recently. "I'm going to go up to bed, g'night mom." And in a rare occurrence Sora leaned over and gave her a light kiss on the cheek. "Love you."

* * *

Author Notes: Aww it's that so cute, I finally got off my lazy butt and gave Sora's mom a name. Ann, I know not very creative but I really didn't want to do that whole Japanese name thing, I'm kinda tired of that. Anyway, finally got this done whoo! Happy! I actually kinda like how this chapter went, what do you think good, bad? Tell me. In. a. review. Yeah review I like reviews. 


	13. Chapter 11

**You Could be the Reason**

**Chapter 11**

**Author Notes**: Whoo it's chapter 11 already! Riku's back, so I'll guess that everyone's really wondering what's up with him. I love screwed up Riku, I mean 'cause Riku isn't fucked up enough as it is. Oh and thank you all who reviewed last chapter. Love you all! blows kisses

xxxxxxx

It was Tuesday so naturally Sora was in school, So far the day hadn't been too bad. Homeroom was a bit of a pain seeing as how he had to share that with Kairi and she wouldn't shut up about Leon to Tidus, who naturally had to tease him about his older more 'mature' friend. Mature being Kairi's choice term for Leon, Sora had no clue as why. Luckily Homeroom was always a short class no matter what day of the week it was, mostly it was just for school announcements and boring matter no one cared to pay attention to. His first official class of the day was Math where he shared a table with Selphie, Kairi, and Roxas. Sora was thankful that they finally were assigned some work to do that way he'd be able to ignore Kairi in this class at least, the work also made the time go a lot faster. Before Sora knew it he was sitting in the beginning of his second period Science class.

Science was never Sora's favorite class, in fact he really wished that he could just drop the whole thing and leave it behind him. Unfortunately he needed the credits if he wanted to graduate. He was sitting at a table alone, looking at the back of Axel's wild hair. He had chosen this table particularly for the view. Not that he admired the back of Axels head it was more so that he could watch the antics of the two seated before him. Axel and Roxas were famous for 'distracting' a class. Mostly the distraction was Axel grabbing Roxas's ass and the resulting anger from the blonde. Sora had always gotten along with Roxas and Axel, they never were the closest of friends but the two never passed by an opportunity to speak to the short brunette. Today though the class seemed to be destined for a different distraction. It was halfway through the class period when someone walked in through the door, resulting in everyone looking up from the notes they were taking. Sora froze with his pencil held to his paper, he knew that hair, those eyes, that face, it was Riku. Shit! There was an open spot next to him. Double shit! Naturally after Riku wordlessly handed a note to the teacher he made his way to the back and sat down right next to Sora with a smile plastered across his face.

There were sirens going off in Sora's head, he suddenly had to fight the urge to take off out of the classroom then and there. He needed to call Leon, he needed to seek refuge in the Midnight Tree, home, the play island, anywhere other then here. Still no words were exchanged the teacher at the front of the room signaled the students to get back to their notes, most of the teens did so, but not all. Axel looked over his shoulder at Riku and Roxas handed him a note. Which Riku opened read quickly, arched an eyebrow and wrote a response. Sora said nothing, Sora did nothing, he just sat and stared at the paper holding his half written notes.

Riku leaned over, "Miss me?"

Sora felt his face flush, he felt warm as events from the last few weeks played out in his head. Riku frowned when Sora didn't respond.

"Something wrong Sora? Is it 'cause I wasn't here yesterday?"

Sora still not able to come up with words, even just to whisper for Riku to leave him alone, he did however have a response as lame as it was, he shook his head in a negative. Riku leaned back in his chair giving Sora a look over. "Want to know where I was?"

He had to admit, he was curious why Riku wasn't there. After all it was only one day so it wasn't like he was forced to switch to a school on the mainland like Sora was secretly wishing. So he looked back at Riku who had a crooked smile on his face, knowing he finally asked a question Sora couldn't ignore. Finally Sora managed to find some words. "I was wondering… in fact we all were."

"Who's we all? Tidus and Wakka?" Riku smoothly changed position moving forward and resting his chin on his hands.

"Well yeah those two and Kairi and Selphie too." Sora couldn't help but notice how close Riku seemed all of a sudden.

Riku arched a silver eyebrow, "Your talking to them again?"

"Well yeah I guess, I mean they are still my friends right." What's with the interrogation here Sora thought to himself, shouldn't he be the one asking questions?

"You sure are a strange one Sora."

Sora shrugged, "So are you going to tell me where you were or not?"

Riku closed the distance between them very quickly and brought his mouth near Sora's ear so as he could more easily lower his voice, obviously this was something he didn't want even Axel or Roxas to overhear. "You have to promise not to tell a single soul," Sora nodded. "Not a soul Sora, not even Kairi got it?" Again Sora nodded his head. "Promise?"

"I promise now just tell me already."

"It's 'cause my parents dragged me off to some doctor, who told me I have to take some time away from the world or some bullshit like that."

"Doctor?" This had Sora concerned, what was so wrong with Riku that he had to go see a doctor?

"Yeah some shrink or something. Claimed I was bi-polar or something like that like I give a fuck."

A shrink! Seriously? Riku's parents dragged him off to see a shrink? Was he really that fucked up? "R-really?" Sora honestly didn't know what to say he hoped his mouth wasn't hanging open or something stupid like that.

"Yeah I know seriously I don't need to see some stupid shrink, I'm fine just the way I am."

"Kairi mentioned that you've been acting weird is that why?" Sora really hoped that's why he had been acting though in the pit of his stomach he felt a lead weight start to grow… guilt, he had become familiar with this feeling.

"No I haven't seen Kairi since I went." Riku pulled back a little when the teacher caught his attention from the front of the room, clearing his throat rather noisily. "I haven't been acting weird anyway."

"N-no?" Sora knew that was a lie, or did he just not realize?

"Kairi's just jealous."

"Jealous of what?" Okay Riku really was strange, what could Kairi be possibly jealous of?

"Us, even though I haven't told her yet."

Sora felt his heart leap up into his throat, lead weight gone. Now? Oh now he was nervous. "You can't tell her!" Sora knew that Kairi deserved to know the truth, he just wasn't ready to face her yet.

"Why not?"

"I –I'm just not ready yet… I-"

"Cool it Sora I get it, I won't tell her yet." Riku inched closer again seeing as how the teacher had turned his back to the class again to resume writing out notes. "I didn't come here to see her anyway."

"Come here, what do you mean Riku?"

"I'm under strict orders to stay at home and take it easy by my doctor. Said I need a mental break. Remember?" Riku moved even closer, Sora could feel his breath tickle against his cheek. "I had to come here to tell you how much I love you Sora."

The pencil Sora had in his hands the whole time feigning note taking snapped in two from the sudden pressure he put on it. "L –love?"

"Mm hmm." Riku hummed out as he nuzzled his nose into the side of Sora's head.

Sora froze he didn't know what to do, he wished that he wasn't here, that a black hole would open up beneath him and swallow him up, that none of this had ever happened. He didn't know what to do, what to say. Lucky for him Riku was interrupted.

A ball of paper bounced off Sora's forehead, thrown by none other then Axel who had turned around and witnessed Riku's affection. The class seemed to be packing up they're stuff, "What the hell Riku who do you think you are? Me?"

Riku gave Axel a nasty look. "Yeah sure if that's what you'd like to think. Sora and I here –" However Sora wasn't there.

He took the first chance offered to him, as soon as the class started to move around and put there things away, he grabbed his possessions and practically ran from the room, straight up to his homeroom for the new reading period. He knew as he sat down next to Kairi that he was flushed and out of breath.

"Sora? Are you okay?"

"Yeah fine."

"Uh-"

"Can't talk now Kairi we have to read." Sora then hid his face behind his science textbook, the only book he had with him.

"But reading period doesn't start for five more minutes."

"Can't talk must read."

Kairi took his hint and gave up trying to talk, instead she took out her own book, and shushed Tidus when he finally walked in a minute later. When Sora had first heard about this reading period he thought it was a good idea, he was never the type to turn down a good book, or even an opportunity to get his in text reading done early but he didn't read this period. No today he stared at the random page he had opened to his mind racing with thoughts. Desperate thoughts, or an endless mantra of 'what the hell? He loves me?' Sora didn't want to be here staring at this book, he wanted to be sitting in Leon and Clouds plush apartment, or on the floor hiding behind the counter at the Midnight Tree listening to Irvine croon along to some country song, or watching Quistis obsessively dust the upper shelves. He needed his phone, he needed a familiar welcome presence. No what he really needed what Riku to be far, far away far away.

Ms. Lisi signaled that they could go to lunch after one very quiet hour, at least on the outside of Sora's head. Sora took off out of the room, down to his locker where he dumped his books and papers, grabbed his phone, and headed out of the building. He found a shady spot under a tree and sat down. He knew everyone was probably wondering where he was right now, but there was far to great of a chance to run into Riku if he were to meet up with everyone else in their usual spot. Also this gave him a chance to talk to Cloud, he guessed Leon would be asleep since he had to work the late shift the night before.

Sora pulled out his phone and played it safe calling Clouds cell knowing that he'd answer regardless if he was at work or not. Sure enough Cloud picked up, "Hello."

"Hi Cloud it's Sora."

"Sora? Why are you calling shouldn't you be at school?" He was confused, Sora could tell by his voice.

"Well I am, it's lunch." He explained.

"Oh well I guess that makes sense." Sora could hear Yuffie in the background, she must have picked up that it was Sora, she sounded excited. That also meant that Cloud indeed was at work. "So what's so important that it couldn't wait until later?"

"Oh um.. nothing much I – I just wanted to talk to someone"

"And you couldn't talk to your friends why?"

"Ah right… well it's just that I'm avoiding them." Sora felt uncomfortable, he was really sounding stupid.

"What happened now that you have to avoid everyone?"

"Not –not much it's just…" Sora trailed off.

"Just?"

"Well uh… Riku came back."

"So I'm guessing it was awkward, you had to talk to him?"

"Yeah he was in my science class. He… he said something and now I just don't know what to do. I think I just need some time."

"What did he say Sora?"

Sora knew Cloud couldn't see him but he was shaking his head denying Cloud the information. "Sora?"

"I'm sorry Cloud I just can't, I need time." Sora felt awful, why bother calling in the first place if he wasn't going to tell him anything.

"It's okay, do you want to stop by the apartment when you're done school?"

"No I think I'll just head home."

"Okay, I heard there was suppost to be a storm tonight anyway."

"Yeah I'll talk to you later?"

"You'd better."

Sora closed his phone and returned it to the pocket of his jacket. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the trunk of the tree he was sitting under. Yes he was hungry but there wasn't much time left until he'd have to return to his afternoon classes, besides he'd rather just sit here and enjoy the shade a little longer. His mind having finally slowed to a bearable pace allowed him to finally sit here and enjoy himself. Yet he wasn't alone for very long, Tidus walked up and sat next to him on the grass, handing him a plate of fries slathered in ketchup in the process.

"Hey, I finally found you, I figured you wouldn't be too far." He said as he took a fry for himself.

Sora who had immediately started to shovel fries into his mouth only shrugged, honestly he was far more interested in the food Tidus had brought instead of Tidus himself.

Tidus leaned back against the tree. "Guess you're a little moody since Riku's back."

Sora paused in his eating for a moment to look over at Tidus.

"Honestly I couldn't stand being around both him and Kairi, talk about awkward he won't say anything to her. So I figured that I'd rather find you… even if you've been acting weird too." Tidus explained.

Sora swallowed his fries and offered a lame "Sorry"

"It's okay I understand, it just sucks that I've got to share a math class with him this afternoon. At least my tables full, I heard that he sat next to you in science."

Sora looked back to the fries, rapidly vanishing and made sure to swallow before he started talking. "Yeah, thankfully I had Axel as a distraction." Sora would have to thank him for coming to his rescue later.

"Yeah if there's one thing that guy's good at is being a distraction." Tidus agreed half laughing. "Say what do you have next?"

"Choral."

Tidus snorted. "I can't believe you're still taking that class."

"Your just jealous 'cause none of your classes have you as the only guy in it."

"Whatever at least I can sing." Tidus responded, glancing at his watch quickly. "We should head off anyway."

Sora took a look at his own watch, it really was almost time for class. "Yeah I guess so."

"I'll just take the rest of these since you ate so many of them." Tidus scooped up the last of the fries he had brought with him. Not many were left on the plate.

"Sorry."

Sora and Tidus parted ways in the school hallways and Sora walked the rest of the way to his choral class alone in a slightly better mood. Sora had signed up for the choral class back when he had just started high school, only because Kairi had insisted. Sora never really was a strong singer but over the years he had improved, at least just a little, enough to not completely embarrass himself if he were to ever get caught up in an impromptu karaoke competition. Choral was a small class consisting of a few girls in his own grade and himself. It was a fun time since he got to spend the whole thing hanging out with Kairi, Selphie, and Namine. He had been pressured through out school by Tidus, Wakka, and even Riku to drop the class and take something a little better, but honestly he secretly enjoyed it plus it was easy credits.

When Sora arrived at the class he was waved over to a seat on the choir risers by Namine. Kairi and Selphie weren't there yet, but Sora was sure that they had spent their lunch with Riku. Sora sat down next to Namine and conversed with her, nothing serious just small talk. Kairi and Selphie made it into the class just in time, and they spent the time discussing they're new music handed to them by the teacher, a plump friendly lady with a nasty mean streak by the name Ms.Riber.

Of course the topic of Riku was bound to turn up, just briefly but it was enough to throw Sora back into his funk. After that the afternoon seemed to blur, he remembered the introductions to all the new pieces of music, walking to his social class, having the notes he sat through and didn't bother writing down given to him by Wakka as he left the class. Looking at the cover of his new English book, the only clear thought would come to him between classes. What if Riku saw him? What if he couldn't avoid him? What if he were forced to speak to the silver haired boy?

As soon as he was out of his final period English class Sora was gone, he didn't bother going to his locker, there was nothing important in there anyway. He just left the class and exited out the nearest door. The whole way home Sora kept an eye over his shoulder, after all you never know who could be behind him. Maybe Riku had spotted him on his way out and was now pursuing him looking for a reply to his confession earlier. Get a hold of yourself Sora, he was just being paranoid now but yet he couldn't shake the feeling of eyes on him. Sora put behind him thoughts of homework, and of his friends, and all thoughts of social decency. He just needed to be home, now! He felt some of the tension ease up in the pit of his stomach when he spotted his home just down the street.

Sora entered his house through the front door, Ann, who was surprisingly not in her office but rather the front living room greeted him with a warm welcome. Sora waved at her quickly and disappeared up the stairs. He didn't feel safe from the invading and seemingly invisible eyes until he had dropped his bag on the ground and crawled under the covers on his bed. He let out a sigh, feeling slightly better in the safety of his blankets. This had always been his safe place, ever since he was little. No matter who would explain the logic Sora had known that the monsters under his bed couldn't reach him if he was safely tucked away under his covers. You remember those monsters right? You know the ones, the shadowy figures with the reaching fingers and glowing evil eyes? Yeah those ones.

In an attempt to make himself a little more comfortable Sora risked a hand out of the safety zone to grab a worn grey shirt, quickly replacing the one he had worn to school. He removed his pants fishing his phone out from the pocket before depositing the dirty clothing on the floor. Sitting in his old grey shirt and boxer shorts Sora leaned against his headboard letting the blankets slide around his waist as he began to flip through the numbers he had programmed on his phone. As he watched names and numbers slowly pass over the phones screen he mulled over the thought of calling Riku. Perhaps if he were able to talk to Riku rationally, in a situation where he wouldn't have to look him in the eyes maybe, just maybe they could work the whole ugly thing out. After all Sora had adjusted to what had happened, at first it didn't even seem like it really had happened. He had been in a state of shock for the longest time after all… he didn't even remember anything, even now everything was still hazy.

Sora let out another sigh as he scrolled back up to Riku's number again staring at the digits until the backlight had faded and he could barely make anything out anymore. He could talk to Riku right? They were friends right? But could he tell Riku he hadn't meant to sleep with him? Why did this have to happen now? Sora jumped when a thunderclap suddenly shook his old house. Apparently his phone wasn't the only thing that had gone dark, one of the late summer storms seemed to have blown in causing night to come a few hours early. Sora moved closer to the window, neglecting his covers entirely now. He always loved storms, hopefully he'd be able to see the lightning from his window. With his head now resting against the cool glass Sora watched the sky light up and the rain form tiny rivers on the glass just millimeters from his face. Despite the ease that storms usually put him in, his mind just wouldn't stop wandering back towards Riku. Sora knew he was pouting, and he knew Cloud would point it out if he were here right now. He didn't know when he started to cry but he could feel the warm tears fall down his cheeks and he could see the indistinct waver in his vision.

Ann must have been at the door, she must have called Sora's name, and she must have knocked at least once but Sora had heard none of it. Despite the lack of response from her son however, she entered the room and being the caring kind mother she was she sat next to him on the bed pulled him into a hug without a word. And Sora? Sora let loose and cried on her shoulder. Perhaps it was a taste of Sora's fleeting childhood that had her sit there and pet the back of his head and croon old fairytales and beloved songs without ever so much as voicing a concern. And for that… Sora was grateful.

xxxxxxx

Sora continued to go to school everyday, and he continued to avoid Riku like the plague. Which was easy seeing as how the boy wasn't there every day, he'd disappear sometimes then reappear a few days later. Despite the wishing that he could just crawl up in his bed and die every night, it would make life a lot easier that way, he continued on. He had been spending every lunch with a girl Kairi was trying to fix him up with. Her name was Garnet, she was pretty, smart, really nice, and Sora really wished that it would work out. He knew that it wouldn't however, he also knew that he should have told her right away he didn't want to crush any of her feelings but she made life a little easier. In short it was easier to avoid Riku that way, he'd spend the lunch hour with her everyday and he'd talk about her and only her in science class, even if he never mentioned that he liked her liked her exactly. He managed two weeks of this false bliss at school. It was the final Friday on the second week and Sora was sitting in choral with Kairi, Selphie, and Namine.

Ms. Riber was explaining some point or other about musical theory, Sora absently heard something about the circle of fifths. The four students never paid much attention to the musical theory parts of the everyday lessons, it was pretty simple after the first year. Kairi leaned over to prod Sora in the side effectively getting his attention from the doodle Namine was drawing in the corner of some of her music.

"What?" Sora hissed under his breath. As nice as Ms. Riber was she was known for her nasty temper and the 'evil eye'.

"I was just wondering how lunch went?" Kairi responded.

"Fine…why?"

"I dunno, just noticed that you've been spending a lot of time around Garnet."

"Well I guess so, she's nice, doesn't bug me as much as you do." Sora teased.

"Hey!" Kairi's outburst resulted in a dirty look from Ms. Riber.

Sora waited a few moments before continuing the conversation, pretending to pay attention to the lesson. "Besides, Kai- if I spend lunch with Garnet I don't have to spend lunch with Riku."

"Ha, I knew it. You really don't like her then." Kairi seemed awfully triumphant for someone who tired to fix the two up.

"I like her, she is a really nice person after all." Sora tried to defend himself.

"You know what I mean Sora, I was talking to her yesterday and she said you really didn't seem to be interested in… going forward." Kairi leaned in closer when Selphie scooted closer trying to get in on the latest gossip.

Sora rolled his eyes. "Does this mean I don't get to spend lunch with her anymore?"

"Well Sora you know she is looking for a boyfriend." Kairi said. "And having you hanging around in one of the most sociable hours in the school day might just hold her back from obtaining that goal."

"You're so mean Kairi."

Namine was the one to get the two's attention and inform them on the music they were instructed to pull out. Finally they were going to sing something, Sora did feel a little relieved to thumb through the scores and pull out 'A South African Trilogy' one of the most fun songs they've sung ever. Singing meant he wouldn't have to continue the rapidly dissolving conversation he was having with Kairi. It looked like he would have to find a different way to avoid Riku in the future.

Thankfully they spent the rest of the class reviewing the same song perfecting their stops, making sure that not one person held onto a note longer then needed. Which Sora had to concentrate on for once, it made it much easier for him to take his mind off of the turmoil it spent most of its time in. Time flew by and before long Sora was sitting in his rowdy Social class with Roxas and Wakka.

Sora was never strong in social, mostly because he found most every topic boring. Why did they have to review the founding of Destiny Islands ever year? About half way through the class when everyone was assigned a group discussion on the founding fathers and wife Sora and Roxas had slipped into a slightly off topic conversation.

"Hey Sora what's up with you and Riku in science?" Roxas asked tapping the end of his pen against a blank notebook page.

"Mmm?" Sora feigned ignorance.

"You know what I mean, you guys went from being inseparable, to hating each other, and know your just… I don't even know what you are, your just off."

"Well I guess…" Sora looked for an answer, after all he couldn't exactly tell the truth. Luckily one came that made reasonable sense at least to Sora. "I guess it's just hard to get back into the swing of things, after all it's not ever going to go back to the way it was."

Roxas nodded his understanding, meaning he must have accepted Sora's answer. "I see what you mean, he, even if it was unintentional, he really did hurt you last year." Roxas shook his head in disbelief. "You think you know a guy then BAM he turns around and ditches you for a girl."

Wakka held back a laugh. "Hey Sora you have been acting weird I know it's strange him being back and all, but you've been taking off whenever he shows up."

Sora looked down at his own notebook, it's pages equally empty as Roxas's. "I guess…"

The exchange fell silent after that, all three boys unsure of what they should say. Sora picked up his textbook and started reading the homework chapter, might as well get a head start. That was also how he spent the rest of his day with his head stuck in a book, seeing as how English period was a silent reading period. Ms. Lisi for once not going off topic and talking about her family and instead set all her students to work. Tidus had groaned in disbelief but Sora had took it in good stride, at this rate he wouldn't have a heavy homework load for the weekend. Which was a good thing since he had decided to stop by the midnight tree for a visit.

xxxxxxx

Saturday came very quickly, Sora had spent Friday night finishing all of his homework and talking to Leon on the phone very briefly, he still had not told him of the new Riku situation. However that would all come in due time Sora told himself as he brushed his teeth Saturday morning, just when he was ready for it he'd like to try and solve his own problem for once. He shook his head, No! Today was not a day to be thinking like this he knew who was working at the Tree today the two were guaranteed to cheer him up and put him in a now rare good mood.

After all if Yuffie and Irvine couldn't do that, who could? Sora left his house thinking this locking the door behind him and walked towards the downtown sector. He arrived well before noon and was greeted warmly by Yuffie. Warmly meaning a hug and gushes about how long it had been.

Sora seated himself on a loose stool near the changing rooms, that way he could carry out a conversation with both Yuffie and Irvine at the same time no matter where they were in the small store. "So Sora?" Irvine started, "Boring question I know but how's school going? You sure you don't want to drop out and come work with us again?"

Sora laughed briefly. "I wish I could, school is just school you know?"

Yuffie poked her head out of the changing rooms where she was currently helping a customer. "That right there. Doesn't sound like it's going all to well. What's wrong?"

Sora shook his head. "Nothing serious, just friends."

"Same guy as last time?" Yuffie asked obviously asking about Riku.

Sora nodded a affirmative. "But like I said nothing serious. What about you guys? Been busy?"

Irvine made his way closer to Sora, keeping his hands busy by organizing racks of clothes on his way. "It hasn't been bad, it's always slower once school starts up, seeing as most of our customers are still in school. However plus side is we have less worry about getting in shit for playing music. Cloud doesn't care as long as there isn't a bunch of people in here."

The lone customer in the store had finished making a selection and Irvine ran her through the till as Yuffie turned her attention to cleaning up the changing room that the customer had been using. Opting to use the dump rack instead of putting everything back onto the floor like she might have normally done if Sora hadn't come to visit. "It is kinda slow for a Saturday." Sora observed as Irvine waved goodbye to the lady with the new skirt.

"Wait for the long weekend that's when it'll pick up." Yuffie said, as she pulled up another stool for herself from behind the counter.

Irvine turned his attention to the radio turning it up a touch, and danced his way over to the other two. Stating that he loved the song in the process.

"Zidane is due to be here any minute." Yuffie said looking down at her watch quickly.

"What's he doing here, shouldn't he be off?" Sora asked. There was no way they needed three people here when it was this slow.

"Nah, nothing like that Cloud phoned and said he's suppost to pick up some paper work. Apparently he's in charge of payroll this month." Yuffie said half laughing at some of Irvine's more imaginative dance steps.

"Yeah you can be sure I'm going to keep an eye on my next few pay stubs, no telling how badly that guys going to screw up." Irvine said elbowing Sora in the side.

Sora was a little confused. "Why would he be in charge of payroll isn't that Clouds job?"

Yuffie laughed. "You sound a little worried Sora, you think Clouds gonna loose his job?"

"No!" Sora hadn't meant it that way. "I just thought…"

"Eh he's to 'busy' with his roommate. The two of them are planning something, I can smell it." Irvine said actually smelling the air.

"Oh with the house probably." Sora stated, suddenly it made a little more sense.

"House?" Yuffie looked at him over her shoulder.

"What you talking about Sora?" Irvine also asked.

"Oh it's just something Leon mentioned, Cloud seems pretty excited about it."

"For someone who's excited about something he sure can be tight lipped about it." Irvine said going back to the radio turning the volume back down.

Sora hoped he hadn't slipped up and said something he wasn't permitted to say. Cloud never said anything about not telling anyone though. "Oh well, maybe he's just waiting for the right opportunity to tell you about it." Sora offered lamely.

"Hey?" Yuffie asked suddenly. "Since when have you been on a first name basis with Clouds roomie? He's just Cloud's roomie to the rest of us, whether we've met him or not."

"Uh, well I've been talking to him a lot on the phone recently. He's a nice guy once you get to know him." Sora explained. He never knew that no one else really knew Leon before.

"Strange." Irvine started. "You've only known Cloud for a couple months and yet you're closer to the roommate then any of us ever have, and Quistis and Zidane have worked here for a couple years now." Irvine placed his finger on his chin as if her were contemplating something. "Cloud must really like you."

"Yeah and he hasn't mentioned Ms.You know who pink dress in a while either." Yuffie added onto the observation.

Sora wasn't sure what they were getting at but he wanted no part of it, he quickly made and excuse to get out of there. "Well you know what I've got to run some errands for my mom and get some groceries home before she gets off work, I should head out."

Irvine nodded and Yuffie gave him another crushing hug. "Aww come back sometime when you can't stay so long Sor."

Irvine laughed at Yuffie's joke. "See ya around kid."

Once Sora had left Yuffie turned to Irvine. "He seems kinda bummed don't he?"

"Yeah we should try to cheer him up." Irvine agreed.

"I know just the thing!" Yuffie raised her fist in triumph and ran to the back to get some supplies.

xxxxxxx

**Author Notes**: Ha! I shall leave it there, now you'll have to sit and wonder what Yuffie's planning. Soooo Riku's back, Yay? Boo? Sora's so Angsty now, he's starting to depress me with his false cheerdom. Don't worry I won't make him suffer to long, okay so I've got lots more of it planned, better strap yourselves in for that. Yes and I just HAD to add a little if tiny bit of AkuRoku, I'm so obsessed right now. I need to work Vincent in some where I've been playing Dirge lately and now I realized that poor Vinnie's missing.

So um… yes thank you for reading now leave a review!


	14. Chapter 12

You Could be the Reason

Chapter 12

Author Notes: aww thank you everyone who reviewed. I love you all. Now lets get onto that plan of Yuffies and yes some more anguish for Sora.

xxxxxxx

Yuffie turned to Irvine. "He seems kinda bummed don't he?"

"Yeah we should try to cheer him up." Irvine agreed.

"I know just the thing!" Yuffie raised her fist in triumph and ran to the back to get some supplies.

Irvine waited at the front counter anxiously anticipating what Yuffie had in mind, sure it wouldn't be that great but with his help I could work no matter what it was, at least that's how it worked in his mind frame. It didn't take the girl long to return, she reemerged from the backroom with nothing but a pad of paper and a pencil in her hand. Irvine questioned what she was actually planning. "Okay I fold how is that going to cheer Sora up?"

Yuffie smiled coyly, "You'll see." She said as she pulled up the stool Sora had previously been sitting on, laying her supplies on the counter. "It's a long term plan."

"Long term being how long?" Irvine asked eyeing the empty pad. Seriously how was this going to help the poor boy?

"I don't know exactly, it could take weeks, months, years even. Reasonably though I think a couple days and we should have him grinning from ear to ear." Yuffie said dramatically stretching her arm out pencil in hand before settling it down on the paper, scribbling a title at the top.

"The incredible fantastic guaranteed to cheer Sora up list." Irvine said slowly as the girl wrote it down. The looked up at her "List?"

"Yeah I figure we'll start small, make a list of things that we think will make Sora happy and then we do them!"

This was starting to make sense to Irvine. "Oh so then do we do them in order? Start small and get bigger?"

Yuffie shook her head. "No I don't think it should matter the order, just that we do it… all of it! And once it gets done we cross it off."

"Oh, okay 'cause I know one thing that's fool proof to get him to cheer up." Irvine started.

Yuffie readied her pencil. "Okay give it to me."

"We get him laid!" Irvine spouted off proudly.

Yuffie paused and looked up at the cowboy. "We get him laid?"

Irvine nodded and stole the pad adding his idea as the first one on the list. "Come on he's a guy, getting laid always cheers guys up."

Yuffie gave in and didn't argue the matter, that one would have to come latter if it ever came at all. "I was thinking something a little more simple like… we should arrange a nice dinner for him and his mom." Yuffie stole the pad back and wrote 'dinner with mommy' on it.

Irvine agreed it had a nice sentiment. "I know something that always cheers me up."

"What?"

Stealing the pad for his turn he wrote and said enthusiastically "Square dancin' lessons!"

"Well if were going to do things that make us happy." Yuffie took the pencil for her turn and wrote 'fudge'.

"Fudge?" Irvine asked reading it off the list. Yuffie nodded. "Oh like to eat." Again Yuffie nodded, so Irvine added his own twist. 'homemade fudge.'

"Oooo yes!" Yuffie agreed excited at there continuing ideas.

After only a short while they had filled a good portion of the paper up and Yuffie had the pad her in lap, she raised the pencil to her chin in thought. "Hmm… what would be the one thing that would sure fire without question make him smile, give him butterfly's, get him excited…"

"I already told you that one Yuffie it's the first one on the list." Irvine said casually, waving as Zidane finally walked through the door, much later then expected.

"Not that Irvine I mean who cares about that. We need something that'll make Sora's mouth drop." Yuffie continued to ponder while Irvine took a break and followed Zidane into the backroom.

"So Zidane, what took you so long?" Irvine asked leaning casually against the door frame.

"I got distracted, something shiny." He was at the lone desk set up in the backroom, it was a general mess designated at the dump zone. Cloud was the only one who was able to maneuver his way through the mess without much trouble. Zidane did not posses this talent apparently he cursed as he shuffled through assorted papers looking for the payroll packet Cloud said he had left for him.

"What cha' looking for?" Irvine asked grinning from his place.

"The papers Cloud left for me."

"Oh…" Irvine drawled out taking as long as possible. "Those or up at the front he said you'd probably have an easier time finding it there." Irvine clarified.

"Why didn't you tell me this before… assmunch."

Irvine gave out a bark of a laugh. "You only wish, turdface."

"Oh real mature." Zidane countered as he walked past Irvine back to the sales floor. Yuffie was still at the counter list in hand. Zidane looked up at her from the papers conveniently left next to the till. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing much Irvine and I are just making a list that's guaranteed to cheer Sora up." She explained casually.

Zidane shook his head in disbelief. "Ever heard of letting people work they're own problems out Yuffie?"

"There is no fun in that." She quickly scribbled another idea on the pad before giving Zidane an innocent smile.

"He's probably picking it up from Cloud, he's such a downer." He then looked down to the stack of paperwork that before mentioned boss had designated for him to do giving it a sour look. "I'm outties she you later."

Once Zidane had left the store Irvine took his seat back at the counter. "So have you come up with your most brilliant idea yet?"

After Zidane's whining about Cloud Yuffies face seemed to have lit up. "I think I just did, don't you see it's right in front of us. It'll be a two for one deal 'cause Sora won't be the only one to benefit from this idea."

Irvine rested his chin on his hand. "So care to explain for me?"

"Cloud!" was her only response.

"Confused." Irvine didn't think that, that was very explanatory.

"We should fix him up with Cloud!" Yuffie said far to enthusiastically.

"Ah, Yuffie I see a problem with that one." Irvine interjected, ignoring the fact that she was already adding her idea to the list. "Maybe even more then one problem, lets spell them out. One, They're both guy's. Two, Cloud still getting over you know who. Three, What the hell makes you think that either of them will go for it."

"Oh Irvy." Yuffie said patting his cheek. "Don't you see they're made for each other. Sora's totally crushing on Cloud it's obvious, and Cloud does have a past with men!"

"One Yuffie, one guy does not a gay man make."

"One is enough, I mean particularly if it's-" She was interrupted by Irvine's hand throwing itself across her mouth.

"Remember Cloud said that it never happened."

"He was upset they had just broke up and they were so cute together." Yuffie tried to argue.

Irvine was having none of it. "Forget about it… what about ice-cream?"

"I don't think Cloud ever had an affair with ice-cream Irvy."

"No we should get gift certificates from the ice-cream parlor down the street for Sora. He likes ice-cream." Irvine stole back the pad and wrote his next idea down. The subject of Cloud, Sora, and either of their romantic affairs now in the past.

xxxxxxx

Cloud sighed as he heard the small chime of the door opening. It figures just once he would have like a night off without having to worry about work, he figured that tonight would be that night, of course he was wrong. He had just gotten home with Leon after having to deal with some financial issues at the bank again, when Quistis called saying that Zidane was down at the store freaking out about some missing paperwork. So he hauled his ass down there in the dark, it was pretty close to closing time and work was the last place he wanted to be.

Never the less here he was standing in the doorway watching Quistis run the old vacuum cleaner between racks of clothing. "Where's Zidane?" He questioned, if he had gone home he'd personally kill him.

Quistis cut the power to the cleaner to answer. "I think he's rummaging through your desk in the back."

"Thanks." He said as he went to find the blonde. Sure enough true to Quistis's words Zidane indeed was tearing through Clouds desk, there were papers flung everywhere. "Zidane? What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to find shit in this shitty organization of yours." He responded.

Cloud gave out a sigh of defeat. "I already told you everything you need was on the front counter."

Zidane made a face at him. "Not everything I'm missing a bunch of stuff."

Another sigh escaped Cloud, 'I can't believe I came down here for this' he thought to himself. He then proceeded to grab Zidane by the arm and drag him bodily back to the front counter. "Are you sure you grabbed everything?"

"Of course I'm sure I grabbed everything, what do I look like here? An idiot." Zidane questioned ignoring the look Quistis was sending his way.

Cloud took his time, he opened the receipt drawer and looked under all the papers, he grabbed a pile of papers next to the till and shifted through them one by one. There was a lot of stuff here, where did it all come from? "Quistis what's all this doing here?" He had to ask.

"I found all that laying around I thought I'd clean up a bit, I wasn't sure what to do with all of it so I just set it there." She answered punctually, as always doing a good job.

Naturally the papers Zidane were looking for where in amongst the other random and old looking papers. He handed the second packet over to Zidane who honestly had no excuse for calling Cloud down here now. "Ever heard of grabbing everything at once?" He asked sarcastically.

"Uh…" Zidane started lamely. "I guess I'm an idiot then?"

"Yup. Now go home and get that stuff done please." Cloud pointed to the door to which Zidane immediately exited through.

This left Cloud and Quistis alone together. "It's time to close up now anyway so I'm just going to lock the door now Cloud." Quistis informed.

Cloud nodded and decided to go through the random papers before heading back home. May as well do something at least slightly productive while he was here, he sat down at his desk ignore the extra mess made by Zidane and sorted through the papers. Most of them were old refund forms, those he threw directly into the recycling bin as well as anything he couldn't make out, any old memo's or instructional notes, the old discount instructions from last Christmas. Most everything managed to land itself into the bin, except for one thing. One paper caught his attention, it was written on front and back with two similar handwritings. "The incredible fantastic guaranteed to cheer Sora up list." Cloud read out loud. What the hell was this? He scanned the list mildly interested reading a few out loud. "A vacation, Re-hire him at the shop, blitzball season tickets, throw Riku into the ocean" and the second handwriting added onto that one "–far away." Cloud laughed a little at that one, that would cheer Sora up for sure. He continued to read down the list there was one point that caught his attention, written just as casually as 'lime soda for a week' was 'Fix Sora up with Cloud'.

He felt his cheeks grow warm, he knew he was blushing. Who the hell wrote this? He couldn't let anyone find this, if he found out who wrote this they're asses would be fired for sure. Quistis interrupted his thoughts, bringing that vacuum cleaner to be put away, causing the door to thump behind her. Quickly Cloud stuffed the paper into his pocket not wanting her to see it, if she hadn't already. "Something wrong?" Quistis asked when she noticed Clouds flushed cheeks.

"Oh no I was just going to leave. You okay by yourself?" He asked trying to dodge the subject.

"I always am, just lock the door behind you I don't want someone walking in here." She reminded, even though Cloud was the boss and it was his rule.

"Will do, see you around then." Cloud exited the building grateful to be out of there. Considering the time of night it didn't take long for him and his silver Nissan to get home.

He walked into the apartment and was greeted by Leon, well at least Leon acknowledged him on his way to bed just when Cloud walked in through the door. "Love you to Leon." Cloud said trying to act casual. Once Leon had disappeared into his own bedroom Cloud released a breath and quickly started to look for a good hiding place for the list. After frantically flipping up sofa cushions, lifting the rug, and separating the curtains Cloud finally figured he'd hide the list somewhere Leon wouldn't clean. So quickly he opened the wooden cabinet housing his somewhat impressive collection of Classic Disney VHS movies he left the list sitting under his first edition of the little mermaid. Mission complete, he was now free to sit back and relax, maybe even watch a little TV before tucking himself away into his warm comfortable bed.

xxxxxxx

Sunday found "the gang" minus Riku lounging about the beach, Tidus and Wakka were in the water bouncing a blitzball back and forth while Sora and the girls sat on the beach and watched. Selphie was prattling on about her latest purchase from the Destiny Island Mall and Kairi was paying rapt attention, Sora was more interested in watching his two other friends in the water half wondering if he should join them.

"And you'll never believe it Kairi, it's just the cutest shade of pink." Selphie continued, Kairi squealed in excitement.

Sora decided now that they had gotten onto the subject of shades of pink he'd go join the boys. "I'm gonna go to the water okay?"

"Sure thing Sora." Kairi dismissed him, turning her full attention back to Selphie. "Now what exactly are we talking about her, good skin tone pink, or bright skin tone pink?"

Sora didn't wait for the answer, instead he was on his feet running like a mad man toward Tidus and Wakka. Once the two noticed Sora approaching the paused in there actions. "Yo Sora, What's up?" Wakka greeted.

"The girls are talking about pink."

Tidus made a face. "They still talk about pink?" He said with a hint of exasperation.

Wakka turned serious. "They may still talk the same, but they're not. Are ya sure we should be trustin' them Sora?"

True the two of them may have turned their backs on the boys in light of popularity, but it was Sora's sense of guilt that lead him to his decision. "Of course we can, they're our friends and if you can't trust your friends who can you trust?"

Tidus made another face, Sora wasn't sure what it meant. Wakka answered. "But if they break your trust once, should it be given again?"

Sora sighed, Wakka was the only one who could quite possibly look through his rouse. "That's what second chances are for. You'd want them to give you a second chance wouldn't you?" Answer a question with a question, one way to avoid the inevitable – the truth. 'I'm the one who fucked Riku up so I've got to pay Kairi back for it…somehow…'

"I guess, but it still doesn't feel right having them hanging around again." Tidus always the doubter. "At least Riku isn't here, I may be able to stand Kairi and Selphie just a little but I hate being around that guy now."

Wakka nodded. "I agree with ya, he's just not the same."

"So uh… wanna play some blitzball?" Sora was so desperate for a topic change that he'd even resort to sports.

Sora naturally ended up soaked after many falls into the water, many missed hits, and with many bruises. Eventually his torture came to an end when Tidus and Wakka proclaimed that they had enough, once again they were laying on the beach enjoying the sunshine. Summer may be over, but it never really got that cold on the island. A sweater was more then sufficient in the dead of winter.

"Hey I just got the greatest idea!" Selphie suddenly spoke up.

"An idea, from Selphie? Shit, I gotta here this!" Tidus sat up pretending to pay complete attention to the girl.

"Ha, ha, very funny. But really it is a great idea, we should go to the play island next weekend do an overnight thing. Just the five of us."

"Hey Selph that's actually a pretty cool idea, we haven't done anything like that in a long time." Kairi seemed to agree. "What do you guys think?"

"eh, count me in." Wakka consented.

Tidus took his time overdramatically thinking out the pros and cons. "I guess it could be fun."

Sora felt a weight in is stomach, he knew they were all waiting for his answer and if he said no they would want to know why. "Y-yeah sounds great." He didn't want to go. He didn't want to go. He didn't want to go. But he was roped in now, maybe he could pose sick, or say him mom had an emergency.

"Great I say Friday night, then we can relax after school and worry about homework later." Kairi said slamming her fist into her open palm, as if the action made it final. "All of us."

"Wait a sec." Tidus interjected. "Just the five of us? What about Riku?"

"Oh um…" Selphie stalled. "Nah I think he'd suck the fun out of it."

Kairi laughed. "Yeah he sure seems to be good at that now." Now a saddened sigh. "I wish he were still the same old Riku… then we'd still be-" She seemed to catch herself as if she was going to say something she shouldn't.

"I better get home, I didn't finish my English homework." Selphie said as she stood and brushed sand from her skirt.

"I'll walk with you." Kairi sprang to her feet and followed after her. Leaving the three boys alone.

"Ha!" Tidus seemed triumphant for some reason. "We caught her!"

"What ya talkin' about Ti?" Wakka asked casually.

"She just about said she'd still be popular if Riku hadn't gone nutballs."

"I don't think she was going to say that." Sora defended.

"Sure she was, after all she was stripped of her Ms. Popularity crown, she's nothing without Riku and you know it." Tidus was soon on his feet striking a pose as if he were a detective that just solved a difficult case.

"Your nuts." Wakka said still lounging.

Sora nodded. "She just wants to be our friend."

"Our friend? Bullshit Sora and you know it. She just wants to make sure she has as many people around her as possible." Suddenly his voice was laced with an angry tone.

Sora felt his out anger raise up. Damn it, all of this was his fault. "You shouldn't say that kind of stuff about your own friend."

"She's not my friend Sora, and neither is Selphie. Fuck both of them, I'm sick of it. They're traitors."

"Whoa!" Wakka was suddenly on his feet between the two of them. "We know you've been under a lot of stress lately Sora, but you've got to see the point Tidus is tryin' to make. And Tidus, we should try to be more understanding toward the girls. They made a mistake." Tidus opened his mouth to answer but Wakka silenced him with a hand. "What if we were in there position? I know you wouldn't want them to be sayin' that kind of stuff about you."

"I don't want to go to the island next weekend." Tidus pouted.

Sora scowled and Wakka took control. "We all agreed to go, and all of us are gonna go. We gotta give them a chance. They might just explain themselves ya?"

"Fine, I'll go to the stupid island. Doesn't mean I have to enjoy myself." Tidus still pouted.

Sora nodded, finding his voice suddenly weak.

"Good, now we all got school tomorrow so get home will ya." Wakka forced them all to leave, Sora was still trying to form words.

The three boys left the beach then, not saying goodbye they all knew that they'd see each other the next day anyway. Sora walked home not feeling any better. Before now he didn't know that Tidus and Wakka had reservations about the girls, and he felt like it was him forcing them to associate themselves with the 'traitors' as Tidus had called them. The weight in his stomach knotted up and he suddenly felt the need to hurl. Damn it, Damn it all he was so sick of this, officially he hated high school, officially he hated being alive. He wished that he could have a life like Cloud and Leon, they didn't really have to worry about anyone other then each other really. They had they're own place to live and soon they'd have bigger place. They had their future figured out they knew what they wanted to do, they were happy and not constantly tormented with so called friends.

Sora felt like he was in a daze the next day, and the day after that. He wasn't even sure what he did all day, he was distantly aware of going to school, of interacting with other people, of homework and lectures, the rest however… empty. Not including the few phone calls to both Leon and Cloud, keeping track of the house situation. Apparently the bank was really dragging their feet about the financing and Leon in particular was getting angry about it, chiefly because their lease was coming due soon. Sora's daze kept up and the week was just another one of those high school blurs, a week he'd probably never look back on. Before he knew it, it was Friday and the weekend trip was that night. He was in English looking at Ms. Lisi with disinterest. She was talking about her family again, besides being extremely boring the topic of family made the time crawl by apparently. He chanced a look at the clock, half an hour left. Oh brum save me, Sora thought to himself as he hid his head in the crook of his folded arms.

To help pass the time Sora went over the plans for that night in his head, propping his head up again pretending to pay attention. As the plan said, they'd all go directly home as soon as school let out were they would gather their things together that they'd need for the night and grab something to eat before leaving to meet at the docks. Wakka was bringing some chips, Tidus was in charge of dip, Sora was to bring Soda, and the girls had done some baking. Then hopefully they'd be able to keep Tidus from blowing up in front of the two girls. Think of Tidus, Sora looked over to Tidus who was fast asleep, drool oozing out onto his binder possibly ruining some of his not so spectacular English notes. 'How'd he not get caught sleeping in class?' Sora wondered. It would be just his luck to try the same thing and get caught. Swiveling his head around he glanced at the clock again, that passed fifteen minutes. Why couldn't he sleep through class like Tidus blissfully unaware of the creeping minute hand.

Suddenly Ms. Lisi seemed to pause in her story, she looked down to her watch observing the time for herself. Strange how once she stopped talking was when she finally got Sora's attention. Good thing too. "Well I'm going to dismiss all of you early, I need to head to the airport to pick up my uncle Bobo."

There were cheers that erupted throughout the class, Sora was one of them. The noise was enough to wake Tidus up who looked around the room sleepily confused. Sora grabbed him and they were on their way out.

xxxxxxx

Meanwhile at the apartment, Leon came in through the door carrying a few cardboard boxes. House or no house, they had to have all they're stuff packed up and ready to go once the lease was up, someone else was already lined up for their apartment. He piled the boxes conveniently in front of the window Cloud loved so much and started to pack up some of the things they would not be needing right away. He started with some of the odds and ends that were laying about, small ornaments, picture frames, a few couch pillows. He designated a separate box for his books, and once he had all of this packed up he stood up to observe his work.

As he observed the now slightly more empty sitting room, he frowned wondering what else he could pack up. Glancing about the room his eyes rested on Clouds video cabinet. Cloud wasn't here, he probably wouldn't even notice if Leon packed up all his Disney videos. He pulled up another fresh box and started to fill it one movie at a time, frowning at all the dust. He pulled out Cinderella and put it in the box wondering at Clouds choice of such girly movies, wondering further when he noticed the next title. The little mermaid, seriously a grown man should never own things like this, never the less he pulled the video out to place it with the rest but stopped when a slip of paper came with it. Was Cloud keeping garbage in here too?

He grabbed the paper, intending to find out if it was something that might as well just go in the trash. His eyes passed over what he deemed mostly to be nonsense but paused when one article captured his attention. 'Fix Sora up with Cloud.' What the hell? Did Cloud write this? Sora was hardly more then a child, Leon decided to file this paper away and confront Cloud if he took any action toward this apparent goal. Silently Leon returned to his task.

xxxxxxx

Sora surprised himself at how excited he really was, he knew that this could potentially explode in all their faces seeing as how Tidus had acted the weekend before. However it was also his chance to level ground between himself and Kairi, and perhaps lessen some of the guilt he felt everyday. They were off to a good start, all five of them were on Selphie's parents boat a much nicer and convenient way to cross the body of water then the wooden row boats they used as kids. Tidus wanted to start up on some of the snacks but Wakka and the girls were keeping him away from it saying that they were going swimming first and they'd save the food for later once they got a fire started. Naturally Tidus whined and continued to try and get to the snacks, Sora did have to agree with him a bit…the brownies that girls had brought did look awfully tempting.

Temptation avoided, all thoughts of food vanished as soon as the teens had their feet planted firmly on the warm sand. Tidus immediately stripped off his shirt and ran into the water yelling something about the last of the summer warmth. Which apparently had already left, he ran back up onto the sand well away from the water shivering. "Heh," he said a little embarrassed "I guess it is getting a little late in the year."

"I guess there goes our plans of swimming." Kairi said, she was helping Selphie load the last of the snacks off of the boat.

"It's warm enough in the afternoon." Wakka said his own hands full of blankets.

"So… at least if it gets cold during the night we can at least climb into the boat." Selphie informed.

"I think we'll be find if we have a fire going." Sora had to put his own two cents in.

"Okay." Tidus affirmed as he sat down on the beach. "So if we can't swim what do we do now?"

"We go get fire wood. Come on Sora, the three of us will go. You girls set the rest up." Wakka said as he pointed toward the play islands interior.

Sora nodded in agreement and dragged a moping Tidus along. Once they had disappeared into the cover of the trees Tidus's negative side came out again. "I hate this time of the year… I'm still not sure if I want to spend the whole night on this island."

"Come on it won't be that bad, Selphie was right if it gets cold we can go in the boat." Wakka tried to reassure the blonde setting some dead branches into his arm in the process.

"I don't care about the boat, I don't think I want to spend the night with those to banshees."

Sora hid a frown as he picked up more wood hidden in some under brush. "Come Ti we can't have fun if you act like that."

"Sora's right, we have to think positive to have a good time, ya?" Wakka agreed. "It'll be dark soon enough then we can sit around the fire and exchange stories it'll be like old times."

"No!" Tidus suddenly exclaimed, throwing his wood on the ground. "It won't be like 'old times. It never will be don't you two see it they're not the same people and neither are we. They betrayed us, I've told you this! Kairi messed everything up."

"Don't blame her!" Sora suddenly burst out. He didn't mean to but he couldn't let Kairi take the blame for something he did, guilt was eating at his stomach yet again.

"Sora's right, Kairi and Riku were only doing what they thought was best for them." Wakka reassured, though not quite mirroring Sora's thoughts.

"I don't care about what's best for the two of them, they messed everything up it used to be the six of us getting together and having fun and now it'll never be the same. We don't even know what's wrong with Riku, he fucked up we all know it and that I know is Kairi's fault!" Tidus continued on.

"Stop!" Sora cried out. Tears were coming to his eyes, he raised his hands to his ears to block out what Tidus was saying refusing to listen to it anymore.

Wakka placed a hand on Sora's back to comfort him. "Cut it out Tidus man, we're giving them a second chance here remember?" He cut Tidus off before he could answer though. "One night that's all we ask, just act decent around the girls and you can make your decision to cut them out of your life after. Your life Tidus not ours, we'll make that decision for ourselves."

Tidus sighed and looked down to the ground at the wood he had dropped. "I guess I'm stuck here anyway, we came in her boat."

"That's right, now get a hold of yourself. Or the girls won't give you any cookies." Wakka confirmed.

"No brownies either?"

"None."

Without much dispute, in fact none just awkward silence the boys had gathered about as much wood as the could carry and brought it back to the beach where the girls had set up a spot away from the water. They had a small table set up with the snacks and drinks they had brought with them and a blanket each spread out in a circle around a fire pit the girls must have dug. "You take long enough?" Kairi asked as they each deposited their wood on the ground.

Wakka took it upon himself to stack it up neatly. Sora was the one who made up the excuse while Tidus sat down on a blanket. "We had a little trouble finding enough, we didn't want to run out."

"Oh and I thought you guys just wanted to avoid doing real work." Selphie said as she took her own seat across from Tidus.

"We'll show you real work, righ' Sora?" Wakka said beginning to arrange the wood in the fire pit.

Sora nodded, "Sure thing."

Before long they had a fire going and darkness was settling in around them, Selphie was just finishing up on the 'Sean tried to molest me' story. Next up was Wakka, Sora already knew what he was going to talk about. Blitzball the same as Tidus, he tried to pay attention as the girls took in the story about the game from another perspective this time much more subdued and less epic as Tidus's version. Sora was trying to figure out what he would talk about, he couldn't honestly pop up with, well I screwed up your relationship Kairi 'cause your boyfriend cheated on you with me and oh yeah he told me he loves me.' Sora pounded on his skull trying to knock the thoughts out of his head, catching everyone's attention.

"You okay Sora?" Selphie asked.

"Uh…" Crap he was caught. "Yeah it's just….a mosquito, yeah damn bugs." He then tossed his hands through the air like he was trying to swat invisible bugs, laughing nervously.

"Are you sure?" Tidus asked leaning forward a concerned look crossing his face. "You look kinda…" He trailed off obviously not wanting to push the mater.

"Yeah I'm fine they're gone now see." Sora paused, time to switch the topic. "Uh… isn't it your turn Kairi?"

Kairi didn't respond right away instead she shot Sora a strange look. "Yeah I guess… um, what should I talk about?" She pondered.

Tidus gave her a topic. "You and Riku."

"Oh yeah I guess that's an idea." Kairi looked down to her white shoes looking sad for a second. "We broke up yesterday."

"Oh Kairi!" Selphie was full of sympathy, Tidus and Wakka were in shock, and Sora, well Sora wasn't very good.

Kairi raised one hand as if to indicate that she was fine. "No, Selphie it's for the best. Riku hasn't been the same and he needs a break. I didn't tell this to you guys, but he's under strict orders by his doctor to take it easy. He's not even supposed to come to school like he has been. We had a bit of a fight about it and he said that things had changed, which they have, and that we weren't working anymore. He said that his heart just wasn't in it anymore." This wasn't easy on her that much was evident, she took a steadying breath and continued on. "We agreed that we would go our separate ways and that we'd both be better off for it. He- he said that he had already moved on anyway. I guess that's what he meant when he said his heart wasn't in it anymore.

"And if your heart isn't in it then your nobody right? I don't want that for Riku, I care to much for him he needs to get healthy. I know that I'm just not necessary for that process as much as it pains me to admit. I really wish that I could be there for him, and help him through this darkness he's struggling with but he's got to find his light on his own. I love him though and I know that he loves me with all his heart he just can't see it right now but time will tell he'll get better and who knows what'll happen next. …I just wish t-that this hadn't happened t-that I'd seen it coming maybe I could have prevented it and maybe maybe I could have help and maybe I –I."

"Kairi." Tidus interrupted. "Your ah… babbling."

"Sorry." She stared into the fire, holding back tears.

Sora didn't know what to say, he wished he knew something that would help her feel better. Right now the truth would just hurt her more. One day he'd tell her though. He had to right?

"I know what'll make us feel better." Selphie said suddenly springing up to her feet. She ran over to the snack table and returned with the plate of brownies that had been tempting Sora and Tidus earlier. "Some chocolate should help all of us out." She said as she offered the plate to Kairi first.

Kairi took one with a weak smile.

As soon as all of them were sitting with their brownies and their soda they started to talk again. Kairi seemed better so Selphie tentatively asked her a question about Riku.

"So Kai, did you and Riku ever sleep together?"

Sora nearly dropped his brownie and Wakka and Tidus suddenly looked a lot more interested. Sora guessed this was the kind of stuff Kairi would talk about to begin with. Kairi shook her head in a negative.

"Well that's good then, a breakups always harder if you've slept with the guy." Selphie said in a almost reassuring manner.

Sora's stomach was so twisted by this time however he couldn't finish his brownie. He thought that She and Riku had already, that Riku had already had his… had it been Riku's first time too? Was that why he was suddenly confessing his love? Did he really mean any of it?

"And you know this from personal experience Selphie?" Tidus was asking.

"Oh like I'm going to tell you." She retorted. Wakka laughed, Sora said he was tired and was going to sleep.

He fell asleep listening to Selphie and Tidus banter back and forth, actually drawing a few laughs out of Kairi in the process. Despite the anguish he felt, Sora actually slept peacefully that night. Perhaps it was the lull of the water crashing against the shore continually, or maybe it was the tones of his friends that made him feel at ease and granted him a dreamless sleep.

Morning came quickly and surprisingly Sora managed to sleep in. He woke up to Wakka and the girls cleaning up the snack table, left in one peace with the lack of any weather disturbance during the night. He sat up and stretched lazily, noticing that Tidus was still fast asleep next to him. "G'mornin' Sora." Wakka said cheerfully folding up the portable table.

"Morning." He drawled back, getting up to his feet. "Planning on waking you know who up?"

"We decided that if he's still asleep by the time we leave, we're going to douse him in ocean water." Selphie giggled out.

Sora smiled, his was in better cheer then he was last night. He started to fold up blankets, shaking them free of sand to help out. Sure enough the four of them had everything packed up and ready to go and the blonde blitzer was still fast asleep. Wakka was the one to do the honors, he grabbed the largest pitcher he could find off the boat and filled it with cold morning ocean water, thoroughly drenching the sleeping blonde with the water. Tidus sprang up from his spot on the sand with a cry, sputtering in the cold water. "What the hell?"

They all laughed and dragged him still muttering obscenities onto the boat. He was the joke as they rode back to the opposite shore toward their homes. Once back on shore they said their goodbyes and departed, Sora walked with Kairi they had to go the same way for part of their journey home.

They walked together and laughed about the previous nights events and continued to make jokes at Tidus's expense until they were just about to the spot they would depart from each other. Sora thought that perhaps he should confess maybe just a little.

He grabbed her arm and made her stop walking. "Sora? What is it?" She asked.

"I need to talk to you."

"We've been talking this whole time silly." She said as if they were still children.

"No I mean, there's something really important that I need to tell you."

She looked at him concerned. "Is everything okay Sora?"

"Not really…" He took a deep breath it was now or never. "It's my fault you and Riku broke up."

"What? Why?"

"I'm the reason he's been acting strange, it's all my fault." None of the guilt seemed to ease up.

"What are you talking about? What happened between you two? You've both been acting strange." She demanded.

"I- I'm sorry I just can't say." He wasn't ready to spill everything yet. Perhaps it would have been better if he had just kept his mouth shut.

"You can't Say! Sora! How you tell me that it's your fault MY relationship fell apart and not tell me why? I'm so tired of this kind of stuff, all these half answers. Riku won't tell me and you won't either! Don't tell me something is your fault and not tell me why." She yelled.

"I'm sorry Kairi, I'm just not ready yet." Lame excuse, yes.

"Don't even tell me that Sora." She then walked off, Sora fought off the tears in his eyes. Nope none of that guilt gone, it was if anything even worse now. He honestly thought that Kairi would be more understanding. Instead of going home Sora decided he would go to the apartment and spend the day with Cloud, he had the day off anyway.

xxxxxxx

Author Notes: for anyone who's following… that was a bit of an inside joke that was spawned up about two years ago, it also has quite a story about two lesbians and a brick…

Yes I know I want more CloudxSora! Don't worry it's coming its coming. Poor Sora, people just keep dragging him down, and by people I mean me. Aww we miss the happy cheerful Sora the "do you still want a dog?" Sora, right?

This keeps getting longer and longer, originally this whole story was going to be a short little fluffy thing, um… yeah you might be able to tell that yeah the fluffy thing yeah out the window. (I say yeah a lot) I want to add some more stuff some more characters (zomg two words Sephiroth and Vincent. Maybe in the next two or three chapters) Plus I don't have the ending worked out yet, I have noooo clue how many more chapters I've got left to do. Yep, so enjoy the ride while you can (which might be a long time still) Also this chapter was long no?

So now that you've read it leave a review! Please and thank you --manners.


	15. Chapter 13

You Could be the Reason

Chapter 13

Author Notes: Okay it took a little to long to get this chapter out, but I have good new and bad news. Good news first I've gotten a beta reader, yay. Thanks Kaikoyatsu Nemura, any Fire Emblem fans should go check out her stories right away. Bad news at the end.

* * *

"Don't even tell me that Sora." She then walked off, Sora fought off the tears in his eyes. Nope none of that guilt gone, it was if anything even worse now. He honestly thought that Kairi would be more understanding. Instead of going home Sora decided he would go to the apartment and spend the day with Cloud, he had the day off anyway.

Clouds presence always seemed to ease away the pain he felt from the 'Riku moods' which was probably why he always seemed to go back there again and again. Luckily it wasn't much of a walk from where he had abruptly parted from Kairi, and he found himself outside of the apartment before he knew it. Also it could have been because he had been so wrapped up in his thoughts about Kairi's negative reaction that he was so surprised when he saw the door in front of his face. He wasn't even sure how he got up the stairs. He put on the best smile he could before he rapped his knuckles against the wooden door.

It didn't take long for Cloud to open up, though he did look surprised to see Sora there. "Hey, Sora. What're you doing here? I thought you were out with your friends."

"I guess we left earlier then I had thought we would." Sora made up as an excuse, not wanting to discus his fight with Kairi in the hallway. "Can I come in?"

Cloud moved out of the way, allowing Sora passage. "I swear if we weren't moving out of here at the end of the month I'd just give you a key, you're here so often."

"Yeah that'd be a lot more convenient. You'll have to get me one for the new place." Sora said jokingly feeling relieved already.

"I'll do that." Cloud walked into the kitchen as Sora settled himself onto the sofa. "You want something to drink?"

"Sure." Sora answered looking around the sitting room. "Say what happened in here?"

"Leon happened. He decided that we ought to start packing early. I plan on leaving it till the last minute as usual." Cloud said as he exited the kitchen two soda's in hand. "Never led me wrong yet."

"Yeah that sounds like you for sure." Sora said laughing.

"So what you come over here for?" Cloud asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. After all, he figured Sora would have wanted to spend more time with his friends.

"Oh, uh…" Sora stalled.

"Did something happen?" This was no surprise to Cloud, by now he was used to it. Damn High school dramas.

"No it's nothing serious, kinda stupid really." Sora looked to his lap, it really was stupid.

"So? Doesn't hurt to talk about it, so spill." Cloud stretched his arms out along the back of the couch; taking up a comfortable relaxed position, knowing that it could take a while. It usually did with teenagers.

"Well, I guess, no it was just a stupid fight with Kairi. We'll patch it up easy."

"What kind of stupid fight? Like a 'you took my pencil fight,' or a Riku fight?" Sora was evading the issue he came here to talk about. Cloud knew that much.

"Well it did involve Riku but it wasn't serious." Sora fidgeted uncomfortably. "She just didn't understand me is all."

"So it was a misunderstanding?"

"No not a misunderstanding, I guess I just expected a different reaction."

Cloud looked over at Sora, so he had said something then. "What did you tell her?"

"I uh… told her it was my fault that she and Riku broke up." Sora was beyond his comfort zone right now, Cloud was one of the very few who knew why he was the reason.

"And you told her why?"

"Well no. I said that I wasn't really ready to tell her why." More fidgeting. "I thought she would understand why I couldn't."

Cloud let out a loud sigh. "Sora you really aren't good with girls are you?"

"What?"

"You shouldn't have told her anything if you weren't prepared to tell her the whole thing." He explained.

"But I was feeling so guilty. Selphie asked her last night if she and Riku had ever… slept together… and she said no… and… I… I just kinda died a little inside." Sora's posture grew heavy with remorse.

"Sora, just fuck it." What's this, Cloud had never given advice like this before. Perhaps he was just getting tired of hearing Sora's teenage angst. "Just fuck everything and forget about it."

"What?"

"These kids: Riku, Kairi, even the ones who left you behind this summer. They don't care about you and you just feel guilty, and dirty, and betrayed by them."

"How can you say those things, Cloud, they're my friends." Sora was a more then a little hurt by Clouds newest advice.

"How long are they going to be your friends? How long do you think Sora?" Cloud leaned forward, suddenly looking very serious. Sora was a little intimidated.

"Always, they'll always be my friends; they always have been." Sora new he had to defend himself, and his old friend from this new one suddenly.

"You do realize that it's a completely different world outside of school, right, Sora? You'll all go off in different directions: some of you will move away, some will go off to college, some will work. But the chances of you all getting together and spending your weekends together are slim. Take advantage of those times now while you can." Cloud moved even closer to Sora.

"How can I take advantage of my weekends with my friend if you're telling me to forget about them?"

"Find out who're your real friends. Real friends won't jerk with your heart or make you choose between them, they won't expect you to adjust yourself to fit in with them. Face it Sora, Riku and Kairi aren't the same people they used to be."

Sora began to grow angry. "Changed or not, Riku and Kairi are my friends."

Cloud cut him off "The guy who raped you, Sora, and the girl who left you behind to be a princess? Yeah, Sora, real good friends."

Suddenly Sora was on his feet and yelling. "He didn't rape me! I told him it was okay, I told him that I liked him, I didn't tell him to stop! I didn't… I didn't."

Cloud rose up and hugged Sora, seeing the tears in his eyes. "Never the less Sora, he did take advantage of you. And now he's trying to worm his way back into your life, and you know this, Sora. You're better off without him." Cloud could feel Sora nod his head in agreement. "Sora, I'm serious. You need to evaluate how people have been treating you. Your mom or your family might tell you these are the best years of your life. I'll tell you they're wrong. Being a teenager sucks major ass: it's confusing and people act like obnoxious jerks. Everyone changes, even you, and you can't control it; no one can. But you have to go through it, everyone does, but once you're through this and you're out there in the real world, you'll find out who you are and things will smooth out."

Sora rested his head against Cloud's chest, keeping his arms wrapped firmly around his waist. He knew what Cloud was telling him made a lot of sense. If he just kept everyone out of his life he wouldn't have to deal with it. The question was if he would be able to keep everyone out till the end of the year. He wished that Cloud was wrong about Kairi and Riku but he knew that he wasn't. They were both using him, Kairi just wanted him around to fill up a 'friend slot' and Riku… Sora wasn't even sure what Riku wanted him for. Finally he found his voice, muffled as it was by Cloud's chest. "Cloud?"

"Yes Sora."

"Can I spend the night?"

Cloud took Sora by the shoulders and pried the boy off of him to look into his eyes. Sora knew he must look awful knowing already that his eyes would be red and puffy. "Sora, you may spend as much time here as you like."

A smile worked its way onto Sora's face. "Thank you, Cloud. It means a lot."

"And tomorrow I'm sure Leon would love to have your help to pack up more of our crap." Cloud said jokingly.

"Yeah I can get started on your garbage."

"Hey my stuff isn't garbage." Cloud said defensively.

"Well you can think what you want." Sora said, holding back a laugh. Inside he felt grateful that he and Cloud were back to jokes and wisecracks.

"We'll just see if Leon and I will feed you tonight."

"That depends who's cooking, 'cause if it's you I won't be missing much."

Cloud pushed him over onto the couch. "Ouch, Sora, that hurt."

Sora laid back and enjoyed the feeling of being worry free for once. It was a nice change, and he knew he wouldn't have to worry about anything until Monday at school. Monday would determine what action Sora would take. Or at least he hoped it would.

* * *

Monday came and went and still Sora didn't know if his friends were really his friends. Kairi was acting cold toward him. He still avoided Riku as best he could. Switching seats with Roxas in science class to sit next to a disappointed Axel. Both Tidus and Wakka were still warm to him and Selphie stuck to Kairi mostly. He also hadn't spent a night at home since arriving at the apartment, though he had gone back for a couple changes of clothes. He spent much of his time, helping Leon pack and focusing on his school work.

Tuesday was much like Monday, following the same routine though Sora was sure he had seen a strange expression on Leon. They were in Clouds room (much to the blonde's displeasure) determining what wasn't essential when Sora had seen it. He wasn't sure what the expression was, it had been brief and never before had he seen anything like it before on the stoic roommate. He had passed it off as a bit of gas or something else normal people would do, or have.

Wednesday brought about the first island cold snap. Sora had bundled himself up in a sweater borrowed from Cloud before heading out to another typical day at school. Sora was sure that there were people in the world who would scoff at the island boy walking down the street in his sweater shivering. It seemed a bit silly to himself really. After all, he knew about how cold some places could get. It was also Wednesday night that both Cloud and Sora stood in the sitting room looking at the leather couch, feeling the chill in the air.

"You're not going to sleep on that cold leather are you?" Cloud asked, knowing that the cold material wasn't the most pleasant thing to sleep on in the chill. Having had a few winter naps on the thing before.

"Well I guess I have to. It's too late to head back home. Plus, it's colder outside." Sora reasoned sitting himself down on the sofa, immediately regretting it. He jumped up off the offensive (and ice cold) material. "What is that thing, a part time freezer?"

"I told you it was cold."

"Well… once I warm it up it'll be fine."

Cloud shook his head. "I'm not letting you sleep on that thing."

"What am I supposed to do then?" Sora asked rolling his eyes at Cloud's motherly expression.

"Come with me." Cloud grabbed Sora's wrist and proceeded to drag him down the hallway.

Sora was surprised when he found himself in Cloud room. "What are we doing in here?"

"You're going to sleep in here tonight. I already told you I wasn't going to let you sleep on the cold couch." Cloud explained.

"Oh, right… Wait, what? I can't stay in here, there's nowhere to sleep."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "What would you call that, Sora?" He asked pointing to one of the remaining pieces of furniture.

"A bed."

"And what do you do in a bed Sora?"

"But that's your bed!" Sora burst out.

"It's fine Sora, now hurry up and get into bed." Cloud pushed Sora down onto the bed. "You take that side and I'll take this side."

"But it's your bed." Sora was pouting now.

"And it's a double. It's fine."

Sora couldn't help but feel nervous. Here was Cloud, someone he had always liked and always been attracted too. And here he was about to share a bed with him, even if it was perfectly innocent, just to stay out of the cold. He just hoped Cloud wouldn't be able to feel his heart pounding in his chest. Still, he crawled under the covers staring up at the ceiling willing his heart to stop beating so fast and for his breathing to slow. Cloud crawled in next to him turned onto his side facing away from Sora. He wished Sora a good night then drifted off to sleep. Sora only wished he could fall asleep as quickly.

Instead he remained on his back staring up at the ceiling. Here he was in Cloud's room, in Cloud's bed, and it was just as innocent as he was telling himself it would be. After all, Cloud was already asleep. There was no contact, just the dark and the sound of Cloud's steady breathing. Sora thought that perhaps if he was a little more comfortable he'd be able to sleep easier, so he rolled onto his side facing away from Cloud. So now instead of staring up at the ceiling he was now staring at the wall. He sighed, hoping that maybe it would slow his overactive mind down. He just couldn't stop himself from thinking about what sort of impact this night would have, even if it was perfectly innocent… He started up a silent mantra, you'll fall asleep, you'll fall asleep, you'll fall asleep... He was interrupted by the bed sheets shifting, Cloud was moving in his sleep, rolling over now facing Sora's back. Sora froze knowing that he had moved even if he couldn't see Cloud, just the fact that he knew that Cloud was now even closer was enough to get his heart beating again.

'Stop it Sora, your acting like some sort of love struck teenager.' He scolded himself. Of course, this only worked in reminding himself that he was a love struck teenager. So instead, his fantasies kicked in. He began to wish that Cloud was awake and that this wasn't such an innocent sharing of the bed. He wished that Cloud would kiss him again, that Cloud would touch him, that Cloud would… 'No! Bad, Sora, bad!' He stopped his thoughts, having to remind himself that this was a childlike sharing of the bed, sleeping together and really just sleeping.

What finally brought his mind to a halt was when Cloud shifted again, this time draping his arm over Sora and holding him close, never waking once. Sora really didn't know how to react, after all he was happy that Cloud was holding him like this but he really shouldn't be. Sora didn't know if he should try and wake Cloud, or if he should try and squirm out of the hold. He spent so much time trying to decide what course of action he should take that he wasn't quite sure when he drifted off, still in Cloud's firm hold.

* * *

Sora was awoken the next morning by loud sounds. He wasn't able to tell what it was at first. Cloud was already sitting up, looking at the doorway with a sleepy confused look on his face. Sora heard him mumble "Leon?" Sora sat up and stretched; now determining that the sound was coming from the apartment. It sounded as if someone was slamming things around. Suddenly, he felt very nervous. It wasn't like Leon to make that much noise ever. Cloud must have been thinking the same thing because suddenly he reached out one hand and put it on Sora's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Sora, stay in here, okay?" Sora nodded his head in response.

Cloud got out of bed and made his way to the door quietly. He wasn't sure if that was Leon out there or not, but no matter who it was, he wanted to get the jump on them. He opened the door as quietly as he could and cautiously made his way out of the room, making sure to close the door behind him to keep Sora safe. He could see into the kitchen, it was a mess. Drawers had been pulled out and dumped all over the floor. It looked like one of the cupboard doors had been broken as it was hanging crooked. Yet there was no sign of anyone being in the room so Cloud moved on to the sitting room. It looked to be just as big of a disaster as the kitchen, and Leon stood in the midst of it. He was leaning against the window and stared out at the rising sun. Cautiously Cloud spoke "Leon?"

There was no response right away, so Cloud ventured a few more steps into the room and tried again. Very quickly Leon flipped around and faced Cloud, spitting out a few harsh words. "What the fuck, Cloud?!"

"What?! What the hell are you on, Leon? You're the one tearing the place apart!" Cloud was taken aback. Leon always had a famous temper, few had ever seen it but when it showed its ugly head it really was all there.

"I can't believe you could be so selfish, Cloud!"

Cloud was counting himself lucky that Leon had decided to take his anger out on him yet, particularly since he seemed to be so angry at him right now. "I don't know what you're talking about Leon." He knew to stay calm it wouldn't help anything if they were both raving mad.

"Sora didn't go home last night did he?" Leon asked, sounding a bit calmer now, Cloud knew this was a ruse.

"No, he hasn't really been home in a week." Cloud answered.

"He didn't sleep on the couch last night did he?"

"No, it was too cold for him to sleep on it."

"You didn't put him in my room."

"No, Leon. I never know when you're going to get home at night." Cloud shook his head he knew where this was going. "He stayed with me. It was fine, Leon; I wouldn't let him freeze." He couldn't believe that this was what brought out 'the temper'.

"It wasn't fine, Cloud. I checked on you two. You were…" the next part came out very quietly. "…Snuggling."

"What are you talking about Leon? I was on one side of the bed and Sora was on the other."

"Nice try, Cloud. Nice fucking try." Suddenly Leon started moving towards Cloud, very quickly.

Cloud tried to dodge out of the way by ducking in front of the couch, hoping that the coffee table would be enough to slow Leon down while he escaped back into the safety of his room. Cloud was wrong about Leon's choice of action, since Leon instead went for the sofa and firmly flipped it over almost right on top of Cloud, exposing the underside. "What the hell are you trying to do, Leon? All this just because Sora and I were in the same bed?" Cloud grabbed the nearest object, a now broken lamp, and held it up as a weapon praying that it would be enough to knock Leon out if the need be.

"No, Cloud, this isn't just because you were canoodling with a boy. Cloud, I heard from our realtor late last night." Cloud lowered the lamp, something bad had happened. "We lost the house, the owners accepted someone else's offer." Leon seemed a lot calmer now.

Unexpectedly a voice piped up from the hallway. "You didn't get the house?" It was Sora.

"Sora, I told you to stay put." Cloud exclaimed, moving himself between the two brunettes not wanting Leon to suddenly hurl a chesterfield at the younger boy as well.

"I heard you two arguing… What happened in here?"

"Go away, Sora." Leon said sternly, enough to frighten Sora back into the bedroom. Once the room had been emptied of its extra occupant, Leon turned back to Cloud, who raised the lamp in response. "Put that down, Cloud."

"No, not until you're back to yourself."

Leon let out a frustrated sigh. "How can you be so calm?"

"I'm not, Leon, I'm freaked the fuck out. Maybe you didn't notice but you're kinda trashing our apartment."

"It's not our apartment!" Leon yelled out suddenly, fighting the urge to grab the lamp from Cloud and hit him over the head with it. "It's not ours and now we have no home."

"So we didn't get the house, we'll just have to stay here a little longer, there are more places out there." Cloud didn't see why not getting the house would make Leon so edgy, obviously it was enough to send him off the edge when he saw Sora and him together.

"You don't get it do you, Cloud? Our lease is up, the landlord already has someone lined up for this place." Honestly it was like explaining it to a child.

"Wait… then what are we supposed to do?" Cloud suddenly dropped the broken lamp and looked down to his feet forlornly.

"That's right, Cloud, we're homeless unless we find somewhere else to go in two weeks." Leon explained, honestly wishing to be back in the kitchen smashing dishes one by one.

"So we'll just get another apartment."

Leon didn't respond, in fact he just walked past Cloud and went into the kitchen. Cloud stood dejectedly in the sitting room, taking in the mess around him: feathers, broken table leg, the overturned couch. A smash from the kitchen brought him back to his senses. He went to investigate. Leon was in the kitchen with a stack of dinner plates in one hand and throwing them to the ground with the other. "Uh, Leon?" Cloud said interrupting the frustrated roommate. Leon paused momentarily, a sign that he was listening. "You're going to clean this up, right?" The next plate crashed against the wall right where Cloud had just been standing moments before he had ducked out of throwing range.

Cloud made a beeline for his bedroom. Sora was sitting nervously on the edge of the bed. "What's he doing?" He asked cautiously.

"Right now? Pretending he's Greek." Cloud went to his closet and pulled out a duffel bag and began to fill it with clothing.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked again.

"Packing, if he wants to trash the place I don't want to be around. Your mom will be cool if I stay at your place for a while right?"

"Yeah she should be fine."

"Good." Cloud nodded his head, formulating a plan. "Sora, get out of here now, just run past Leon and get back to your house. I'll be behind, I want to try and talk him down a little bit more."

Sora nodded his understanding and left immediately. Cloud wondered as he watched the boy leave if he had heard Leon and Cloud discussing him earlier. Cloud knew that he should just concentrate on getting out of here, so he zipped up his bag and went to see what Leon was doing in the kitchen now that the smashing had stopped. The kitchen was indeed in a worse condition then it had been before, there was sugar strewn over the floor now as well as the dish shards. Leon was rummaging under the sink. "I hope your not planning on drinking any of the chemicals."

He got a dirty look in response. "I saw Sora leave."

"Yeah I told him to get as far away from the crazy man as possible."

Leon looked Cloud over. "You really are selfish."

"Why do you say that now, old friend?"

Cloud got another dirty look, but Leon fished a piece of paper out from his pants pocket and flung it at the blonde. "You're obsessed with the kid."

Cloud was dismissed then, so he just grabbed the paper and left, not explaining where he was going or what he was doing, just left without a word. It wasn't until he was sitting at a red light in his car that he looked at the paper. One look at it and Leon's reactions started to make more sense. It was the list from the store, "The incredible fantastic guaranteed to cheer Sora up list." Cloud shook his head. Leon must have thought that he had written this. "Fuck." He said to himself as he continued his way to Sora's house, knowing that Sora would have made his way there already. This was going to take a steady hand to clear this up with Leon.

Though Cloud had every intention to head straight to Sora's house and plead to his mother (who as of recently had been insisting that he now call her Ann) to allow him to stay in her house seeing as he would soon be homeless. However he found himself heading in the opposite direction, and very quickly was outside of the Midnight Tree. The list was still in his pocket, now crinkled, worn, and soft. He would find out who wrote that list and he would make them go face the wrath of Leon, perhaps they would be the ones to help clean up the mess. It never happened, though. He forced himself to drive past the building and parked outside of the small coffee shop down the street. Indecision running rampant through his head, perhaps the warm embrace of a caramel macchiato would slow his brain down and lead him to a rational ending.

Girlie coffee in tow Cloud skipped past work, deciding that whoever (he was sure Yuffie had something to do with it) wrote the list was in fact just looking out for the well being of Sora. In truth, Sora really had been down for the last while, and had only started to return to his normal self in the past week at the apartment. Whoever had written the list just had the best intentions for the boy, though it would have been a lot better if they had left Cloud out of it. Though he did secretly wish that he and Sora were closer then they were. Cloud's now rational mind took him to Sora's school, it was empty, naturally, seeing as it was the weekend and the barren school yard somehow reminded him of his days in school. A painful experience; Cloud had never been popular, nor was he ever considered for the role of a popular teenager. Though he was close with one of the admired girls: Tifa. The relationship he had once had with Tifa reminded him a lot of what Sora and Kairi were now doing. Once they were close, then Tifa and Kairi both had moved on and made something of themselves in the school hierarchy, leaving Cloud and Sora behind. "Maybe that's why I like Sora so much." Cloud wondered out loud.

Sitting here, leaning against his car, looking in at the empty building suddenly made him feel old. Even though it hadn't been that long ago that he himself had been a student. He had moved out here to these islands because he wanted to get away from what he had been. He only hoped that Sora wouldn't move away, too. After all, Cloud didn't want to be left behind.

He finished up the last of his drink and fixed himself on begging Ann for a room to stay in. Soon enough he would be homeless, and he'd need somewhere to go with or without Leon.

* * *

Sora had a good day at school on Monday, he was truly happy for the first time in months. Ann had allowed Cloud to stay with them, allotting the extra bedroom for the blonde. Sora was glad Cloud had the patience to put up with Ann's chatter about the shade of blue on the walls, or how her sister had come over when they decided to paint the room, and how they wore plastic grocery bags on their heads to keep the paint off. The only price he seemed to have to pay was having to put up with Axel whining about not sitting next to Roxas, and trying to convince Sora to move back to Riku's table. Sora put up with it, though. He sat there with a smile on his face copying notes from the board, shaking is head in a negative whenever Axel went "Come on, Sora." And most importantly, ignoring the dirty looks he was sure Riku was giving him from the seat behind. All the bad things would go away when he thought of Cloud. All he would need to do was remind himself that Cloud would be at his house tonight and that they would probably spend hours up in his room, listening to music as they both make a half assed attempt at Sora's homework.

He was determined to get as much work as possible done in school that day so that he might maximize the time he got to spend with Cloud that evening. That was why as soon as the text book pages were announced in class he set straight to work instead of having an impromptu eraser war with Axel like he would normally do. He'd just have to put up with those erasers bouncing off his head is all. This line of thought carried him throughout his whole day. He tuned out the world around him and set to work. He spent his lunch hour briefly in the cafeteria then went to the library to finish off all of his math homework. After lunch he headed off to choral, mentally planning the rest of his day. As usual, there wouldn't be choral homework, or rather that would be easy enough to just not do. After all, Choral was just a filler class. Cloud was more important than it. He would be able to finish the little bit of the science readings that he wasn't able to finish in class easily before Cloud came back from work. Hopefully Social would be easy enough to finish in class, and English would be a breeze as long as Lisi would talk enough to not get to the next segment of the workbook they were doing.

He was feeling confident throughout the afternoon, all with good reason. Social indeed had been easy, he was done with time to spare and Lisi had gone of on a tangent about a family dinner gone awry. Before long he was at home, homework free and Cloud and he were sprawled out on his bed discussing whatever came to their minds and ruffling through Sora's CD collection. "So you never said if Leon was there when you went back for you toothbrush last night." Sora said, starting a new topic of conversation.

Indeed, the night after Cloud had showed up at Sora's house he realized that he had packed in such a rush he had forgotten such essentials as his toothbrush, hairbrush, hair gel (very essential) to name a few. "Yeah." He answered quickly.

"Was he doing better?"

"I guess, at least for a little while he was." Cloud answered.

"What does that mean exactly?" Sora asked, forgoing the CD's to look at Cloud with a concerned expression. "He didn't throw another couch at you did he?"

Cloud laughed a bit. "You're not going to let that go are you?"

"Nope, I'm taking that one to the grave. You'll still hear about it when your fifty." Sora laughed along. True, it had been scary at the time, but looking back at it, Leon really had thrown a couch at Cloud. "But you didn't answer my question."

Cloud sighed, wishing he hadn't brought it up. "He was kinda concerned at first; you know, typical Leon. He had done some cleaning but the place was still a pretty big mess, were missing a lot of dishes now. Anyway, he asked me where I went. I told him I was staying here with you. He went off the deep end a little bit, nothing serious. He just yelled a little bit." Cloud looked down at his lap, obviously pretending to look at the CD cover that sat there. "I don't know if we can still be roommates after this."

"Cloud…" Sora started, not quite sure what to say. "This is all my fault, I shouldn't have asked to stay. I over stayed my welcome."

"Don't say that, Sora, it's not your fault… I think it's Yuffie's."

"Yuffie's?" Sora was confused. "But what does Yuffie have to do with this?"

Cloud dug down into his pocket, pulling out the worn list and handed it to Sora. "I'm sure she wrote this. I found it at work and brought it home and hid it, and I guess Leon found it and thought I wrote it."

Sora smoothed out the paper, raising his eyebrows at the title. "What is this?" Cloud didn't answer but Sora never really needed one. It was pretty obvious. He couldn't help but laugh at some of the entries, but one bullet made him stop. 'Fix Sora up with Cloud' "Cloud?" He started but stopped changing what he was going to say. "Is this why Leon thought you wrote it?" He never said which point it was, never motioned to it, never indicated to it in anyway. He didn't need to; Cloud knew.

"That's what I'm guessing."

Sora began to look at the paper closely. "Two people wrote this. Their handwriting is similar, but it's defiantly different. Yuffie had some help writing this."

"The day that I found it Zidane was working."

"You think he'd help write something like this?" Sora asked, still clutching the list in his hands.

"I'm not sure. I don't want to start accusing people. Who knows how long that list's been around? I'm not even 100 sure that Yuffie had something to do with it. Though the greatest chances are she's involved." Cloud took back the list, somehow feeling naked knowing that it wasn't tucked securely away in his pocket.

"Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"How long have you been carrying that around?"

"Uh, since Leon threw it at me on Thursday." Cloud wasn't sure how Sora could tell his attachment to the paper.

"Why?"

"No reason."

"Cloud, why don't you just throw it out?"

"I might need it to threaten Yuffie one day." Cloud reasoned.

Sora shook his head. "You're obsessed with it."

"I am not." Cloud defended. Sora gave him a stern look, or as stern of a look the boy was capable of. "I'm just attached is all."

"Why? It's just a list of stupid little things. Most of them are ridiculous." Sora counted.

"Because." Cloud looked down, feeling ashamed of his real feelings. Yet he knew he'd have to answer. So, staring at the CD that remained in his lap, he pulled together his courage and meekly looked up at Sora. "Because… sometimes I wish it was true."

"Wish what was true?"

"That… that Yuffie would try and set us up."

Cloud wasn't sure what to expect, but he wasn't expecting Sora to move closer and hug him, for Sora to rest his chin against his shoulder. "Cloud, you don't need Yuffie for that."

Cloud knew that he was being silly this whole time, but Sora's answer was enough to fill him with confidence. As soon as Sora began to pull away Cloud took him by the arms and forced him down onto the bed, capturing the brunettes lips in a kiss that he hoped expressed what he felt. Feeling elevated when Sora returned the kiss more timid, more unsure of his actions then Cloud. Cloud deepened the kiss running his tongue over Sora's bottom lip asking for entrance. Sora had never kissed someone like this before, he wished that this would never end that he could take this moment and spread it out for eons to come. He complied to Cloud's every move, shifting himself on the bed to make himself more comfortable and wrapping his arms around Cloud's neck, who hovered over him supporting himself on either side of Sora's head. A lust filled voice in the back of his head cried out. 'Fuck school, fuck Kairi and Riku, fuck everything; this needs to go on. I need to fuck him.'

Just when Sora was feeling more confident, just about to let his hands explore more then the back of Cloud's neck, he heard footsteps in the hallway. Immediately he pulled away from Cloud. "Shit, it's Mom." And true enough as soon as they had pulled apart and made a more "friendly" distance between them did the door open up and Ann stepped into the room.

"Hi, Hun; Hi, Cloud." She greeted them as she entered. Taking no heed to there suspicious actions. "I was just wondering if either of you had anything in particular in mind for dinner."

They both answered no. "Well fine, I guess we'll just have to go out then." She said casually, as if it was something they would normally do. Sora was a little shocked. Usually in a situation like this they would end up having leftovers.

"Go out, like fast food?" Sora asked tentatively.

"No, I mean like out to a restaurant. It's been so long since we've been out; I thought it would be nice. But that means you two need to get changed out of those clothes and into something more appropriate. What the two of you have on is all rumpled." Sora couldn't keep the blush from his face. "Cloud, I think some of my ex's clothes might fit you if you need something."

Cloud ended up wearing Sora's fathers old dress shirt and slacks, a little dated but still acceptable. Luckily, Cloud could pull them off with natural flare and finesse or at least that was what Ann had assured him. They had gone out to one of Ann's favorite restaurants. They had a typical, normal conversation, Ann getting to learn more about Cloud and vice versa. Sora couldn't remember when he had been so happy somewhere; he couldn't remember when he felt so normal. This all of this the dinner everything Cloud and Leon had done for him, but yet, a darkness still loomed in the background. Now Cloud and Leon were fighting, because of him mostly at least that's what he figured Cloud living at his house wasn't helping things much. Silently, as he sat there smiling as he listened to a joke his mother was telling there at the dinner table in the middle of that two star restaurant, he made a vow: he would fix things; everything, no matter how much blood, sweat, and tears it took.

"Hey Cloud, why don't you try giving Leon a call when we get home?" Sora suggested figuring that he may as well get started right away.

"Why exactly would I do that?" He said between mouthfuls of pasta.

Sora shrugged, he didn't exactly want to say 'so the two of you can be friends again' so he made something up. "I guess to see how the apartment's looking; surely he's got most of it cleaned up by now."

"I guess."

"How big of a mess are we talking here now? You said he was a little mad but what could he have possibly done that would take this long to clean?" Ann piped up, trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we're going to need new dishes, surely we'll need to restock the pantry, some new furniture; expense after expense we might need that bank loan after all." Cloud answered.

Sora laughed a bit. "Don't forget that you'll need a new lamp."

Cloud laughed as well, Ann wanted answers. "What's so funny about the lamp? What happened to the lamp?"

"Oh, nothing important." Cloud tried to brush it off.

"Nothing important!" Sora piped up. "You should have seen him, Mom. He was wielding that lamp like a sword. Leon was so close to getting chopped up by that thing, if only you had put the shade on your head and went En Garde." Sora made a motion with his fork as if he were fencing.

Ann burst out laughing and continued to laugh even harder when Cloud challenged Sora with his knife and they broke out into a utensil match. None of them seemed to mind that everyone was looking at them. Ann was used to Sora usually making some sort of ruckus when they went out. She figured as long as it was entertaining there was no sense in stopping him. She took the opportunity to see how people were reacting: some patrons were scowling and shaking there heads while others laughed and pointed. She smiled. She would always be proud of Sora no matter what he did. After all, he was her baby and he always would be. She rested her chin upon her palm and smiled taking in the sight before her. She loved Sora, she loved whatever Sora loved, and so she hated whatever had put Sora into his funk. Cloud, though, he seemed to be what was keeping Sora above the mist of his sadness the light in the dark.

Normally, Ann, who was, after all, a very responsible single mother, would never have allowed her son to spend so much time away from home if she didn't think it was in his best interest. The time spent with Cloud or at his apartment always seemed to bring him home smiling. It hurt a little that it wasn't her helping Sora out, but, after all, there is only so much a mother can do for her children.

* * *

Author Notes: I have to say thanks again to Kaikoyatsu Nemura for beta reading this for me. You have fixed all my stupid mistakes! Right now the bad news. I know I said last chapter that I was going to expand this and add some new characters but I've decided the forgo that and bring this to an end. There should only be one chapter left I'll get working on that right away and get it up not to far from now. But do not to worry I've got a new story in the works, a FF7 story and I do plan to do another Kingdom Hearts fic in the future. 


	16. Chapter 14

You Could be the Reason

Chapter 14

Author Notes: Here it is folks, the long awaited for final chapter. It's also You Could be the Reason's second birthday. I have a little proposition for you all as well as some news, but I'll get to that later. Enjoy!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

It was unlike Sora to be up so early, but Monday morning found Sora up before the sun sitting at his desk, planning exactly how he was going to fix things. Step one make a list of things to be fixed. The Riku issue, The Kairi issue, most importantly the Cloud and Leon issue. Okay so maybe the first step was just a means of procrastinating. Step two, start planning. He had already scrapped a few ideas of how to patch things up with Leon and Cloud and hadn't even touched the other problems. One step at a time Sora, one step at a time he kept reassuring himself like that. As he sat there, chewing on the end of his pencil he figured that something complex would be to… well, complex. Booby traps, while fun would probably just anger Leon even more. The classic locking the two in a room together had been done far too often. Turns out luckily for Sora the solution to this problem was practically handed to him.

He heard his door creak open a crack, and slowly open wider to reveal a sleepy looking Cloud. "Sora what are you doing up so early?"

"I'm sorry did I wake you?" Sora immediately apologized, a habit he picked up from his mother.

"No I have to go to work this morning." Cloud stepped into the room taking in the scene before him. "What are you doing, last minute homework or what?"

"Huh? No I'm uh, studying for a test today, yeah studying." Sora started to clean up his papers, not really wanting Cloud to see them. "I thought you were working this afternoon."

"Yeah, I switched with Zidane. I need to get the rest of my stuff out of the apartment, luckily thanks to Leon we don't really need to worry about to much furniture." Cloud explained.

"So… where is Leon going to go?"

"He said something about staying with a friend, Seifer or something."

"Then you'll have to see Leon today." A plan, no the plan was starting to form in Soras' head.

"Yeah." Cloud haphazardly scratched his rear, still looking like he wanted nothing more then to roll back into bed. "I need a shower." He muttered before leaving Sora in the room.

That was it, Sora took out a fresh piece of paper to organize his thoughts. Cloud and Leon would have to work together to finish cleaning and packing up their things. They'd have to talk, they'd have to work things out, and they'd have to do it without someone holding there hands. That was what Sora was terrified he might have to do and it was the last thing he wanted to do. This worked perfect and Cloud himself was the one to hand it off to Sora. The only thing Sora would have to do was make sure Cloud was in a good mood before he left. He grinned to himself as he looked over "the plan" Perfect, just perfect thank you Cloud.

Happily, he headed downstairs to make himself some breakfast. It didn't take him long to decide on a bagel and cream cheese, popping one in for Cloud as well. It was great timing on Clouds part. He came up the stairs hair still wet from his shower as Sora was finishing spreading the cream cheese. They sat at the kitchen table enjoying there breakfast and quiet chatter, doing there best not to wake Ann.

"So I was thinking." Cloud started. "What about us?"

"What about us?"

"Are we an us?"

Sora stopped eating for a second, what exactly was Cloud talking about. As much as Sora would have like to have an eloquent response, however all that he managed was an ever so intelligent "Huh?"

Cloud sighed all too familiar reaction, so all he did was lean over and plant a kiss on Soras' cheek.

"Ooooh." Was Soras' response he seemed to get it now. "Are we an…us?"

Cloud shrugged, "I never really thought about it."

"You just said you were thinking about it!" Sora burst out, forgetting momentarily about his mother asleep upstairs.

"Okay so maybe it was more like Jerking off thinking about you."

"What!"

Smiling to himself, Cloud leaned over, kissed Soras' cheek again, and whispered into his ear. "Be my boyfriend Sora."

Sora, previous embarrassment forgotten couldn't help but smile at the butterflies in his stomach. He captured Clouds lips with his own. "I'd love that."

"Good" Cloud said as he stood from the table. "I was hoping you would say that. I've got to head to work now, see you later."

"What you've got to go already?" Sora couldn't help but be disappointed, he had hoped they could have spent more time together as newly appointed boyfriends.

"Yeah, we've got to do inventory today."

Sora followed Cloud out of the kitchen and to the front door. "Do you have to go?"

"Yup, sorry." Cloud leaned over and gave Sora a soft kiss. "I'll see you later though okay."

"Yeah, bye." Sora said sadly, as he watched Cloud climb into his car.

Once the door had been shut, Sora couldn't help but let out a few girly giggles, things were starting to work out for him. Now he and Cloud were officially an item, and he was sure that Leon and Cloud would patch things up. The looming threat of having to avoid Riku at school for another day seemed a lot lighter. As he walked up the steps to his room, he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

Just as he predicted he kept a smile plastered to his face all day at school, not letting the dirty looks Kairi now shot at him from across the room during homeroom get him down. Nor the Presence of Riku in science, not even the fact that he was assigned Choral homework. In fact, he couldn't remember a day at school he had been so happy, sure people like Tidus and Wakka asked what the grin was about but he didn't tell anyone. He figured that the first person he wanted to tell was Leon, then his mother after that. Already he knew that as soon as he was let out of his last class, English as usual, he would head straight for the apartment. As he pretended to read over his copy of Antony & Cleopatra, actually surprised that Ms. Lisi hadn't gone off about some family member or another today. It didn't matter much to him anyway, he just stared at the words and occasionally flipped a page or two and it looked like he was working anyway. He spent his time instead day dreaming about his first night at home with his boyfriend, and how Leon would thank him for patching things up between him and Cloud.

For the first time ever in that class, Tidus actually had to snap him back to reality instead of it being vice-versa. Naturally, Sora didn't wait for Tidus and had run up ahead on his own, leaving the slower boy behind. He'd just hold him back anyway. The now common quick as possible stop at his locker was performed in record time and in a flash Sora was out of the building and on his way to the apartment, only stopping once to grab some coffee to take to the former roommates. He slipped into the building easily by following another resident in and was in the surprisingly empty apartment in record time.

He stood in the doorway holding the tray of coffees, looking at the stacks of boxes and empty walls. "Wow" was all he could mutter.

"Pretty sparse eh?" Cloud asked as he took the coffee from Sora giving one to Leon in the process.

"What happened to the couch?"

"It broke, the arm came off." Leon explained calmly as he placed another box on the stack.

"Well at least you don't have to worry about moving it now." Sora said trying to be the optimistic voice.

"I guess it works for the best right now, neither of us have room to put any furniture." Cloud said sitting on the floor to enjoy his coffee and well earned break, Leon joined him.

"So you two aren't fighting anymore?" Sora asked tentatively.

"No." Came Leon's response.

"We worked things out, figured out everything was just a misunderstanding."

"Good!" Sora was relieved, so that worked itself out in the end as he had expected less work on his part. "I was afraid that they two of you would never speak again."

"I don't entirely approve of Cloud's latest news though." Leon said before taking a slow sip from his coffee.

"Latest news?"

"Us." Cloud answered quickly.

"But… why not?" He had expected support from Leon.

"I won't stop either of you and I'm happy that you're happy, but you're just too young for this kind of a relationship Sora." Well at least his answer made some sense.

"Oh…" Sora said softly.

It was silent for a while before Leon spoke up. "It's your own choice." He then went around the corner and disappeared into his bedroom, leaving Cloud and Sora alone.

"I hope Mom takes the news better then he did." Sora said more to himself then anyone else.

"I wouldn't worry about it Sora. She'll love you no matter what after all she is your mother and you are her only son." Cloud reasoned.

"Yeah, I know. I can still be a little afraid though, can't I?"

"Of course. Now sit your butt on this ground, you're making me nervous standing like that."

Sora laughed softly, sitting next to Cloud on the worn carpeting. "So how are you getting all of this stuff out of here?"

"Most of it is going with Leon, the kitchen table is about the only thing coming with me furniture-wise. Seifer's going to help out tomorrow driving stuff around. Thank God for friends with trucks."

"That's the guy that Leon's going to be staying with isn't it?"

"Yeah, He probably won't stay long though they hate each other." Cloud took another long sip of his coffee. "I thought he would have gone to his girlfriends."

"Leon has a girlfriend?" Sora never knew that.

"Remember Rinoa from the store?"

Sora nodded, sure, she was the one his Mom liked so much. "Yeah… wait he's going out with her?"

"They've been seeing each other for about a year."

"Seriously? Why didn't I know that?"

"He doesn't talk about it much, in fact I found out from Rinoa way back when." Cloud laughed a bit. "He'll end up there soon enough, last time he tried to spend more then a few hours with Seifer he swore he would put Seifers' head through a wall."

"I believe he would do it too."

Cloud laughed. "Come on Sora you can help me finish packing up the last of my stuff."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

It was the next day and Sora had been dropped off at school by Cloud on his way to work. He made his way up to homeroom feeling a little more confident in himself, seeing as how he managed to patch things up with Cloud and Leon, naturally he was giving himself some of the credit. Now all he left to do was try to mend things between Kairi and himself as well as Riku. Kairi would be in homeroom, he'd at least be able to talk to her there. When he entered the room, he noticed that only Tidus was there, no sign of Kairi yet. So, he sat next to Tidus fully intending to move to the other side of the room where Kairi usually sat now, once she got here.

"Hey dude." Tidus said as Sora sat down.

"Hi, how's it going?"

"Better then you." He responded.

"Gee thanks." Sora said full of sarcasm.

"Hey I'm not saying that I'm the happiest guy on earth or anything but anyone could be happier then you've been lately."

"I take offense here. I'm actually quite happy things have been working out great the last couple of days." Sora gave a big grin as if to prove his point.

"Oh? And what exactly happened to bring about this change in the ever gloomy Sora of late?" Tidus asked as he leaned back in his chair and gave Sora a look over as if his appearance would give away what had changed.

"Nothing, I'm just…" Should he tell? Maybe he would just be elusive. "Dating my crush is all."

"What is this? Sora has a girlfriend?!" Tidus actually looked taken aback. "Who is she? Do I know her?"

"No, no you don't." Sora smiled to himself, he would tell everyone eventually. He just didn't know what it would do to his other problems. He wanted to fix everything as best he could first.

"Tell me what's she like?" Tidus looked genuinely interested.

Sora suddenly noticed something, the classroom was full, homeroom had started and as usual most, everyone was ignoring the teacher. "Where's Kairi?" She wasn't here.  
"How should I know? Whoa you're not going out with her are you?"

"What? No! I just wanted to talk to her is all." Sora looked around hoping that maybe she had just decided to sit somewhere else today, but to no avail. Her auburn head could not be seen. There goes that plan, hopefully she was just late and he'd be able to catch her in math or choral. Once Homeroom was done, he sped off to math class. He was one of the first ones in the room so he sat at the usual table where he, Roxas, Selphie, and Kairi usually sat. Though over the last while it had been him and Roxas while Selphie and Kairi would trade tables with someone else once the class had started. He wouldn't let that happen today though, he'd make her stay or he'd follow her. That is if she showed up. It wasn't long before Roxas came and sat next to him, smiling.

"What's with the smile Roxas?" Sora had to ask.

"Just because you're a gloomy puss doesn't mean everyone else has to."

"Gloomy puss? Seriously is that the best you could come up with?"

"Shut up."

"Besides I'm not a gloomy puss. I'm happy." Sora explained. "Or at least I will be if Kairi shows up."

"I doubt it." Selphie suddenly said from behind them. "She was feeling pretty sick yesterday, though I doubt you noticed you were so wrapped up in your own world."

Sora watched as Selphie sat across from him. "Oh, I guess I was." He could make no excuses.

"What was with you yesterday anyway? You were daydreaming with this goofy smile on your face all day." Roxas asked, lowering his voice as the class started around them.

"I guess I just wanted to go home, who likes to go to school anyway." Sora said trying to brush the subject off.

"Why do you want to talk to Kairi so badly anyway?" Selphie asked.

"I just wanted to apologize for something I said before." Sora took out his notes to try to look like he was at least paying a little attention. "I want to try and explain things to her."

"About how you said that it was your fault she and Riku broke up." Selphie interjected.

"You said that Sora?" Roxas asked.

"How do you know about that?" Sora was shocked he hadn't expected word to spread.

"I'm her best friend Sora, you think she'd keep something like that from me?" Selphie rolled her eyes. "You really hurt her you know?"

"I didn't mean to… I just thought… I thought she would understand." Sora looked down at his hands clutching his pencil.

"How can you expect someone to understand if you only tell her half of the story?"

Roxas looked on. "How would it be your fault that the two of them broke up?"

"Listen I can't tell you yet." Sora burst out causing the teacher to clear his throat, an indication to quiet down. He continued at a quieter tone. "I need to talk things through with Riku and Kairi first."

"Then maybe you should sit next to Riku in science today." Roxas said sagely, "Surely things won't work out if you keep ignoring him."

Sora sighed. "I know… but that means you have to sit next to Axel."

"Trust me I'm used to him by now." Roxas smiled a bit.

"Oh Roxas you like him!" Selphie suddenly burst out.

"I do not." He defended. "I like someone else."

Sora liked that they weren't talking about him anymore. "So who is it?"

"I'm not telling you, or I'll never hear the end of it."

"Does Axel know? Maybe I'll be able to get it out of him. I'm sure I'd find some way to twist his arm." Sora continued, Selphie laughed.

"We'll get it out of you eventually."

"You guys are just a bunch of pricks you know that?" He tried to focus on his math work while ignoring the kissy faces Sora and Selphie were making at him.

Science followed math, and Sora knew that Roxas was right. He may as well take this opportunity and talk to Riku. So when both he and Roxas walked into the room Roxas sat next to Axel, who couldn't keep the lecherous grin off his face, and Sora took the desk behind them were Riku usually sat.

Unlike Kairi though, Riku was at school and when he walked through the door and saw Sora at his desk, he had to stop himself from running up to the desk and giving Sora a big hug.

"Hey." Riku said casually as he sat down.

"Hey." Sora responded, staring at the back of Axels head. Watching with mild interest while Axel tried to wrap his arm around Roxas' shoulders.

"So what's with the change of seating?"

"Roxas convinced me." He explained.

"Seriously? I thought he hated sitting next to Axel. Go figure."

Sora sat there and watched as Roxas tried to push Axels arm off, wishing he could just come out and say what he wanted to say. Maybe the problem was that he just didn't know what to say.

"So did I scare you off?" Riku suddenly said.

"Scare me?"

"When I told you… you know."

"Oh, I guess." He felt lame now was the time, now was the time. Everything was a mistake Riku it never should have happened. There he knew what he wanted to say now, now he just had to say it.

"I figured as much, you just shouldn't have cut me out like that." Riku said still not making eye contact, not that Sora was have cooperating anyway.

Their conversation was cut short however, as the teacher walked up to the front of the room and told them they would all be having a pop quiz. This naturally was met with a groan from the entire class. As per science class tradition all the desks need to be divided using the horrid blue dividers, the same as Sora had been faced with during his English final last year. Though this time they were more then welcome, a plastic wall between himself and Riku and the awkward conversation they were having.

As the test progressed Sora found that despite the fact that he hadn't been prepared for the test, it really wasn't that bad and he was done with time to spare. He spent the time looking at the blue divider on his right, noticing that part of the wooden base that held the plastic aloft was actually made out of a hockey stick. He smiled remembering the times that he and Riku would go to the mainland during the winter and play Hockey in their childhood. How Tidus and Wakka would come along sometimes as well, Tidus would always pull out a pile of chocolates or candy of some sort and share. He would claim that that was all they would get out of his stash for the year. As Sora sat there examining the plastic board he wondered if Tidus still has his old pencil kit in his locker full of sweets this year. He hadn't bothered to find out, he had been so busy with his own problems he had barely even noticed that he was essentially ignoring his old friends.

He used to wait around after school and they would all go do things together, but it seemed that every day he always rushed off on his own. He'd always head straight home or off to Leon and Clouds apartment. Was he actually taking to Clouds advice? Was he actually cutting his friends out of his life? Though he was happier with Cloud and Leon then he was with his other friends. A smile crept across his face as he remembered how he and Cloud had ended up kissing instead of packing the night before. Cloud was right being a teenager sucked.

Before he knew it, the quiz was over, the dividers were removed, and papers were being handed up to the front. Everyone seemed to be drained from the test and everyone including Axel quietly went to work, finishing the last few pages in there textbook. As class was ending, Sora promised Riku that he would have lunch with him, he'd just have to run to his locker first. Perhaps they'd be able to find somewhere private and Sora could get all his worries off his chest.

And as such, Sora went off to his locker like a good little boy, with a song in his heart and a smile on his face. He had high hopes that he and Riku would sit and talk like mature adults and that they would be able to work this out between them. However typically it couldn't be like that, just as he was heading off toward the cafeteria he ran into a crowd. Trying to peak over other students to find out what was going on he managed to see the top of an auburn head, Kairi? He finally managed to push himself to the front of the crowd, typical Destiny High students if there was a fight they were sure to gather. Once he was near the front, he saw that the two in the center were in fact Riku and Kairi. Kairi indeed did look worse for wear evidence that she truly was pretty sick, and they both looked angry.

"You know you're such a bitch Kairi, I don't know what I ever saw in you." Riku started.

"Me?" Kairi said in defense. "You're the wacko nut job, I don't know what kind of drugs you did over the summer but they messed with your head big time. You're not Riku anymore."

"If I'm not Riku then who the hell am I?"

"You're a nobody."

Sora noticed Axel and Roxas across from him, they both looked disappointed as if they had expected more from there friends. Wakka and Tidus also had just pushed there way to the front, stopping to talk to Roxas briefly before mimicking the same expression on Axels face.

"You know what Kairi? Fuck you, you're just a self centered bitch, it's not my fault I'm in love with someone else."

It was that statement that fell from Rikus' mouth that silenced the crowd. This was sure to keep the gossip mill running steady for at least a couple of weeks, after all there was no better break up then one that involved three people. Sora just hoped that Riku wouldn't go into any further detail.

"No one else would be interested in you." Kairi said icily.

Riku didn't say anything and instead just turned heal and marched directly into the nearest washroom. Sora saw Roxas start, as if he was going to follow him in but Axel stopped him. He looked around to see if anyone was going to go in and help. He knew that Riku was just sitting there moping waiting for someone to come in and tell him that his side was the right side. Kairi was still in the hallway, holding back tears being consoled by Selphie. Sora knew that he would have to be the one to go in after Riku, the other students knew better then to test his patience.

"Riku?" He asked quietly as he entered the tiny washroom.

"What?!" Riku snapped from his position by the sinks. Once he saw Sora though he softened, if only briefly. "Why didn't you stick up for me? I saw you there."

"Riku." Was all Sora could say.

"Don't Riku me, why didn't you come forward why didn't you say that we were in love?"

"Because we're not in love Riku."

Riku was silent for a long time, Sora could see him watching the sink in front on him. Finally, once Sora had started to wonder if he should just leave, Riku spoke up. In a soft voice, he voiced his question. "Why don't you love me Sora?"

Now it was Soras' turn to stand awkwardly. He shifted his weight from one foot to another trying to figure out the best way to break the news to his former best friend. "Riku…I just…" He looked down to his scuffed yellow sneakers. "You can't just…" Why no one warned him this would be so hard. "Listen to me Riku and don't interrupt me. You can't just expect me to love you just because we… well… you know. My heart just isn't something that can be opened and closed at your own whim." So far so good, now for the hardest part. "I don't think about you that way… I have a boyfriend."

At that statement, Rikus' head snapped up from the sink and met Soras' eyes. "What?" He started slowly.

"You heard me."

"How? How could you do that to me? I gave up so much for you Sora!" He voice was laced with anger now.

"I'm sorry Riku, it just wasn't meant to be."

Riku took a few quick strides so that he stood face to face with Sora, he grabbed the shorter boys' jacket and pulled him onto his toes so that there nose's were almost touching. "Don't you fucking tell me what wasn't meant to be, I know that we were, ARE destined to be together Sora. You can't fucking argue with everything that has happened. You can't just tell me that you have a boyfriend and be done with it."

"Yes I can Riku." That was it Sora was tired of this obviously Riku would never be able to work this out if Sora kept up his end they would never be done. "Don't ever speak to me again Riku."

He turned to leave the washroom, fully fed up with the situation, he ran straight into Kairi. How long had she been there?

"Kairi?" She looked livid. "Uh, how much did you hear?"

"Enough." She turned and ran down the hall leaving Sora and Riku. Riku hadn't even been so gracious to say hello.

As Sora stood in the doorway, Riku passed him. "Hope you and your boyfriend have a happy life. You fucking queer." He said with a sneer.

Sora spent the rest of the lunch hour in a daze, he sat alone in the cafeteria and barely touched his lunch. In Choral when he would normally sit and chat with the girls, he instead sat at the opposite end of the room and stared quite contently at the wall. In social, he found out that news had already started to spread, since both Wakka and Roxas knew about the washroom conversation.

"So did you seriously fuck Riku?" Roxas asked leaning across his desk.

Sora didn't answer instead gave him a pointed look.

"Don't mind him Sora, it's none of his business ya." Wakka said trying to be reassuring.

"But seriously though, what was it like? I mean did the two of you just decide to try a friends with benefit's thing or what?" Roxas continued to pry.

"Riku was still with Kairi then." Wakka clarified.

Great so now the details had started to leak out too.

"Ah so he was cheating then, Sora you naughty boy to think you'd encourage something like that." Roxas laughed.

"Stop it." Sora managed finally finding his voice.

"Hey I'm not saying it's a bad thing or anything. I mean Kairi kinda had this coming didn't she?"

"Roxas, that's a bit harsh man." Wakka scolded.

"Hey something like this doesn't come around every day." Roxas leaned back and looked Sora over. "Who would think Sora would be the type to woo over someone like Riku."

"I didn't woo anyone."

"Oh come on Sora how does something like that happen then?" Roxas asked.

"I was drunk." He admitted ashamed. "It never should have happened."

"Wait." Wakka started. "The two of you were wasted." He burst out laughing.

"No. I was." Sora clarified.

This seemed to silence Wakka and Roxas for a while. The two looked at each other before looking back to Sora again, who was idly toying with his eraser. "Sora?" Wakka started. "Do you mean that Riku got you drunk?"

Sora nodded.

"Shit." Roxas almost whispered. "You mean that he… he…" Again, Sora nodded, Roxas looked to the eraser that had occupied Soras' interest. "That's, that's just low."

Luckily, for Sora, the subject was dropped and he was able to spend the rest of that class doodling stars in the margin of his notebook. In English, he did the same, doodled, and ignored Ms. Lisi and Tidus who kept making gestures to him from across the room. Once English was finished Sora was technically free to go, he could have disappeared off to home but he stuck around and actually followed Tidus and Wakka to their lockers. As tradition, stated Tidus indeed did have his stash of candy in the bottom of his locker. And probably for the first time ever he offered it freely to Sora.

"Come on just take one chocolate bar or something it'll make you feel better." Tidus insisted as he shoved the pencil case under Soras' nose.

And quite possibly, for the fist time Sora refused. "No thanks."

"Eat some candy Sora or how else are you going to get your cheer back up, why just this morning you were saying you were happy as a toad."

"A toad man?" Wakka asked.

"Yeah toads are happy."

"Toads are Warty." Sora said from his position on the floor.

"I agree." Wakka said, as he sat next to Sora. "You're going to be the talk of the school for awhile Sora."

"I know… but there isn't anything I can do about it."

"Hey I've got a question for you." Tidus piped up.

"If it's about Riku forget it."

"Damn… okay how about this? Do you really have a boyfriend?"

Wakka rolled his eyes and Sora nodded his head.

"Damn why didn't you tell me earlier? Here I was thinking you had gotten yourself a cute little girlfriend, but in reality you got yourself some sort of muscle man." Tidus laughed as he helped himself to his own chocolates.

"I'm leaving." Sora said as he suddenly stood up.

"Don't let him get to ya Sor." Wakka said not moving.

"No my ride should be here now." Sora said as he headed down the hallway. He heard Tidus quickly close up his locker and start after him. A quick check over his shoulder showed that indeed Tidus was coming along with Wakka right behind him. "What are you two doing?"

"Well it's your boyfriend picking you up right?" Tidus asked grinning. "We want to meet him."

"I don't know." Sora thought about what Cloud had told him before, to just cut his friends out of his life.

"Come on what could it hurt?" Wakka asked looping his arm around Soras' shoulders.

"He's not the jealous type is he?" Tidus asked laughing at the closeness between Wakka and Sora.

They exited the school via the back doors leading out to the student parking lot, indeed Cloud was sitting there. Sora could see that he was raising his phone to his ear, probably meaning to call Sora, but once he noticed Sora, he lowered it again and waved. Tidus spoke up from Soras' side. "Is that him?"

"Yeah."

"He's good looking." Wakka said simply, removing his arm in the process.

"Better watch out Sora, Wakka's out to steal your guy." Tidus laughed.

Sora stood near the doors and watched his friends joking together as Cloud moved the car closer, despite how awful he felt about the fight earlier his friends acceptance put a smile on his face. He never actually expected them to be so understanding. Who needed Kairi and Riku he was just fine with the people who like him for who he was.

"Hey cutie, need a lift?" Cloud broke into his thoughts.

"Sora that guy is trying to pick you up, better run before he molests you." Tidus said shoving Sora back toward the school.

"Knock it off Tidus." Sora pushed back and went to the car door.

"Had a good day at school?" Cloud asked.

"I'll tell you about it later." Sora turned to his friends "I'll see you later."

"What you're not going to even introduce us?" Wakka said.

Sora sighed, Cloud climbed out of the car on his own accord. "Since Sora doesn't seem to keen on doing it, I guess I'm forced to do it myself. I'm Cloud."

"Sora why didn't you tell us about this guy?" Tidus said laughing.

Wakka took over in the introductions department. "My names Wakka, that loser over there." He gestured to Tidus. "Is known as voided blonde head."

"Hey!" Tidus shouted in defense. "The name is Tidus."

"Great can we go now." Sora spouted, really wanting to get home so he could tell Cloud about his day.

Cloud chuckled slightly at Soras' impatience, a sound Sora loved, he waved goodbye to Soras' friends and climbed back into the car. Sora followed him, promising Tidus and Wakka that he'd see them later.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Later that night after Sora had explained to Cloud exact what had happened that day they sat and mulled over what would be the next appropriate step. "I don't know what to tell you Sora, Riku sounds creepier then ever." Cloud offered up lamely.

Sora followed with a sigh. "I just don't know what to do anymore." He prodded at his unfinished homework. "Not only will Kairi never trust me again, but Riku probably hates my guts."

Cloud wrapped one arm around Soras' shoulders pulling the smaller boy into his chest. "Admit it Sora there isn't anything you can do now, the ball is in their court now."

"Sport analogies Cloud?"

"Quiet you. Why don't you just try sitting back and letting the world take over, you try to be in control way to much. You have nothing to apologize for if they want things fixed you'll just have to wait for them to come to you. No matter how long it takes."

"I guess."

Cloud smiled a bit. "Now how about working on that coming out to your mom part."

"One step at a time Cloud, one step at a time." Sora turned back to his homework knowing that he'd never get it finished, closed his notebook. "I should try and not fail all my classes first."

"Well giving up on your work probably isn't going to help you on that one." Cloud said picking up the notebook and turning the pages.

"Yeah well I can't concentrate."

"Typical high school response there Sora." Cloud laughed at the younger boy.

Sora pouted. "Well it's not my fault in fact I'd say that it's your fault actually."

"My fault? How's it my fault?"

"You wouldn't bring me yogurt earlier." Sora responded rationally.

"Oh, and here I was thinking that it was because you couldn't get enough of my eyes, you'd rather spend all night looking into them rather then working on boring math or whatever." Cloud joked.

Sora leaned in closer. "Well now that you mention that..."

Cloud picked up on the hint and leaned in for a kiss. Sora deepened the kiss instinctively angling his head so that Cloud could have better access. This was the greatest part about having a boyfriend like Cloud, no matter how bad his day had been none of it would matter now that he was back with Cloud again. Sora pulled away with a smile on his face. No way he'd be able to finish that homework now.

Cloud pulled back from the kiss with a smile. "So how about coming out to your mom now?"

"You're an ass Cloud, I'll tell her in my own time." Sora slapped him playfully.

"Tell me what?" Just as Soras' luck would have it Ann had decided on that moment to open the door bringing up the before mentioned yogurt that Cloud had been too mean to bring up earlier.

Cloud stood up. "How about I just leave you two alone to talk things out."

Sora grabbed his hand to stop him. "No please stay."

"I'll be back later, you need to talk to your mom alone." Cloud left the room, giving Sora a reassuring smile before he left.

"What's this about Sora?" Ann asked as she sat next to him on his bed.

"I guess... I have something important to tell you." Sora took a deep breath. "I'm gay." There he said it, it was out she knew now.

Ann was silent for a moment, Sora was afraid that she was going to disown him. She finally did speak though. "You're sure?"

Sora nodded. "I have a boyfriend."

"Cloud?"

"How'd you know?"

Ann laughed. "It's called mothers intuition Sora. You think I don't know who my own son likes."

"So then why did you let him stay?" Sora was under the impression that usually parents would want to keep there children away from their significant other.

"Because he needed somewhere to go." Ann laughed again. "I'm glad you told me Sora." She pulled Sora into a hug.

"I don't see why if you already knew." He said voice slightly muffled by the hug.

Ann gave him a wide smile. "Enjoy your yogurt kid."

"Thanks."

Cloud reentered the room after Ann had left. "That seemed painless. My mom threw a hissy fit when I told her."

Sora laughed. "At least she was nice enough to bring me yogurt."

"Your not going to let me live that down are you." Cloud asked reaching for the spoon, which Sora pulled away. "Oh come on Sora."

"Nope you have to go get your own if you want any." Sora held the container away from Cloud, which forced Cloud to reach on either side of him to grab it. Naturally, Sora took advantage of this and placed a kiss on Clouds neck.

"You're an evil little thing aren't you?" Cloud laughed forgetting about the yogurt and instead went for the taste of it on Soras' lips. "I never get tired of that."

"Me neither." Sora smiled as Cloud laughed. "We're so cheesy."

"I'm glad for it."

Cloud left butterfly kisses along Soras' neck, which naturally made Sora laugh at the tickling sensation. Cloud made his way up his jaw line and finally captured Soras' lips, which were all too eager to return the attention. Sora had his hands splayed lightly on Clouds back keeping them just firm enough to let Cloud know not to let up, to stay close and to not to leave him hanging. Cloud continued his little menstruations, which left Sora gasping for more, before Sora knew what had happened Cloud was gone and running down the hallway with the yogurt container.

Sora sat stunned for a moment before he actually realized what had just happened. "God damnit Cloud!" He yelled as he took after the blonde down the hallway. "I can't believe you did that just to get my yogurt!"

Sora followed Cloud to the hallway washroom, in which Cloud locked himself in. "I'm going to finish it." Sora could hear on the opposite side of the room.

"Cloud!"

Sora could hear Ann laughing from somewhere else in the house. Sora rolled his eyes and pounded on the door, as if it would make Cloud open up. Sora eventually gave up, leaned against the wall, and gave the door dirty looks.

"Come on Sora it's not that bad." Cloud said peaking his head around the door.

"You took my yogurt."

"I ate it too." Cloud held open the empty container. "It was good thanks."

"Cloud! You're so mean!"

Cloud laughed and popped the spoon in his mouth. "I was nice enough to save you the last spoonful."

Indeed the spoon had been filled with vanilla goodness. "You're still mean." Sora said swallowing the treat.

"Go finish your homework now young man."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

True to all predictions Sora, Riku, and Kairi were the talk of the school. Sora wasn't able to walk down a hallway with out noticing people staring, or hearing the whispers. What kept him going was Clouds advice, Cloud had said to stop trying to take so much control over the situation to just let it play out. Sora knew that asking people to just stop talking about him wouldn't help much, and he also knew that whatever had been between Riku, Kairi, and himself would never be the same. He had nothing to apologize for he had tried to do his part. His part had backfired and he accepted that, now there was nothing he could do. It was with half a heart that he managed to even give Kairi a smile in homeroom as he sat next to Tidus. She only gave him an icy stare before turning back to her other friends.

"Hey cheer up guy." Tidus said once he saw Soras' face fall. "Think about it this way, at least she's popular again. Back up on her throne where she wanted to be all along."

"What do you mean?"

"All the 'popular' girls are talking to her again. They keep showering her with all this fake sympathy. Yeah 'cause any of them know what it's like to have your boyfriend cheat on you with another guy." Tidus laughed.

"It's not funny." Sora informed him blankly.

"Well it sorta is. Think a year ago everyone looked up to Riku and Kairi, said that they were the perfect couple blah blah blah."

"They were."

"No they weren't' if they were no one would be in this position, Riku would still be straight as a board."

Sora smiled a bit. "Not all boards are straight they can warp and twist."

"Are you calling yourself twisted and warped Sora?" Tidus laughed. "I picture some sort of serial killer, someone who likes to... pluck out there victims eyes and eat them or something. Holly crap Sora! You're a killer!"

Sora watched with little amusement as Tidus howled with laughter, all but ignored by their teacher. "That's gross Tidus."

"Yeah kinda." Tidus settled down and sat in his seat as a normal person might. "I'm still finding it hard to believe that you're gay Sora."

Sora rolled his eyes. "I used to have a crush on Riku."

"Seriously? Before or after the incident?"

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?" Sora felt uncomfortable with so many people around.

"Just answer the question Sora."

"Before, I know absolutely not now."

"Sora." Tidus started, lowering his voice so that no one else could hear him. Sora was actually concerned seeing as he couldn't remember the last time Tidus looked so serious. "I want you to know that no matter what happens Wakka and I will always be there for you. Through thick and thin no matter what happens to us."

Sora felt his heart soften a bit. He didn't think Tidus had ever said anything to touching before. "Thanks I really appreciate that."

"Besides think about the bright side. Kairi might be popular, and Riku is as weird as ever but in just a few months, none of that will matter. Once we all graduate, none of this will matter. The only things that will matter will be that you've got a hot boyfriend Kairi doesn't and you'll finally get your distance from Riku that you deserve. Who's popular and who's not won't matter, just who you are, what you do, and who you love" Tidus leaned back in his chair once finishing and looked proud of himself.

"You know Tidus. I don't think I've ever heard such smart words coming out of your mouth."

"Gee thanks Sora, you know I try my best."

Sora laughed, Tidus was good at that. "I hope we stay friends after high school."

"Me too."

Sora continued through his day, facing each class with a determined set to his shoulders. He was tired of letting people push him around, though what surprised him was how many people actually supported him how many people actually accepted him and how many people were just curious. He never really knew how many people actually considered themselves his friend. Even science wasn't that bad, He sat next to Roxas and let Riku deal with Axel for once. Of course, he also had to deal with Axel behind him now, which meant pokes in the back during class and the offer of free sex. To which Sora had turned down repeatedly.

He made his way through life, through school and soon began to count down the days to graduation. With Cloud at his side he knew that he was invincible and even Riku couldn't take that away from him. Time flew by and he and Cloud grew closer and slowly the rumors stopped and Sora was able to live his life. And true to Tidus' words he, Wakka, and Sora remained friends after graduation even when Wakka left the islands to continue his education on the mainland and Tidus joined with a minor league blitzball team. Though what made Sora happiest was the time he spent with Cloud.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Author Notes: that's it, the end. Not to fear though, proposition! Even though to me this is finished and I'm more then ready to move on I'll give all of you a chance for one last bonus. I apologize for this in advance since it bothers me when people do this, but I'll put up an epilogue if all of you leave me lots of nice reviews. After all I'd never be able to ignore them. Heh, also shameless plug. Final Fantasy 7 fans go check out my new story War of the Hearts. Also look for a new KH fic in the future. Yeah so go leave that review for your epilogue.


	17. Epilouge

You Could be the Reason

Epilogue

Author Notes: Well here it is folks, this is it no more. Enjoy!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A year passed, then two, and by then Sora had moved off the islands with Cloud. The two lived in a small flat nestled comfortably in a corner of Traverse Town. Cloud had been promoted to a higher position in the Midnight company and now looked after several of the Midnight Tree chain stores. Sora had complied to go along easily seeing as he was now attending school in the area. A smallish college where he was hoping to get a bachelors degree. In the summer between his first and second year at college he accompanied Cloud back to the islands, his first trip back in the year since he had moved up to Traverse Town.

He talked Clouds ear off in excitement on the ferry ride back. Talked about whatever came to mind, his family, his friends, bliztball, even just random memories. "I wonder if Tidus and Wakka are still planning to put together a kids blitz team. Did I tell you? Wakka e-mailed me telling me all about it, he and Tidus are going to coach a bunch of kids and enter them into a tournament."

"Yes, Sora you told me." Cloud replied calmly, knowing that Sora would change the subject soon anyway.

"Did I ever tell you about the time that Riku broke my nose with a bliztball when we were kids? That was kinda funny, he didn't mean to do it. Actually, I sorta walked into it. He and Tidus were having a competition to see who could kick the ball the furthest and I had decided to go swimming that day. I was practising holding my breath under the water and I surfaced for some air and BOOM! I got a bliztball to the face." He paused to laugh. "Riku was so worried, you should have seen his face. Or Kairi's when I showed up at her house with this ugly bandage on my face later that day. I had to go show it off, I wanted her to sign it but my Mom told me that it didn't work that way."

As Sora continued to ramble on with his story, Cloud noticed that he was beginning to wring the bottom of his shirt with both hands. Cloud stopped this by putting his hands on top of the brunettes. Sora stopped talking and looked up at him, meeting Clouds gaze for the first time since they had gotten onto the ferry. "Cloud?"

"It's okay to be nervous Sora."

"I'm not nervous! What's there to be nervous about? I'm going to hang out with my Mom and go to the mall with Roxas and Wakka and Tidus. I'm going to have lots of fun."

"Sora! I know you well enough to know that you're secretly freaking out about the fact that you might see Riku and Kairi again." Cloud reasoned, throwing his arm around Soras shoulder.

"I guess... but enough time has gone by, everything's in the past now right?" Sora asked watching the islands grow larger and larger as the ferry pushed forward.

"Trust me Sora, everyone matures when they're done high school two three years and everyone will be on the same page. No more raging hormones or whatever you want to blame it on." His gaze followed Soras and Cloud watched the islands as well.

"I hope so... I mean, we didn't resolve anything before I left. I still feel bad about fighting with Riku in front of Kairi like that. I really did want to tell her."

"I know Sora, I know."

The rest of the trip was spent in a comfortable silence and Sora snuggled into Clouds chest keeping one eye on the islands. They made it to the dock rather quickly, which surprised Cloud who was used to the trip now with his new position in the Midnight Tree. He put that up to the good weather. Sora began to babble in excitement again when he spotted his mother waiting for them, waving when she saw them. Cloud had almost expected her to show up with a cardboard sign, 'Welcome Home Sora' painted on it haphazardly. But she didn't she just stood there, Wakka and Tidus in tow, with her old digital camera hanging off one wrist. She descended on them with said camera as soon as Sora and Cloud had made it onto land. Forcing them to stand together, pose with Tidus and Wakka, pictures with just Sora, she made Wakka take pictures of her and Sora and Cloud together.

After a quick lunch Ann, Cloud, and Sora made it back home. Cloud and Sora had slipped upstairs to unpack their bags.

"I can't believe that Mom let you use my room when you came here." Sora pouted looking at the tightly made bed.

"Where else was I supposed to go, she wouldn't let me pay for a hotel room." Cloud said, discussing his past visits.

"What happened to the guest room being for guests?"

Cloud laughed. "You realise that you're a guest now too."

"I don't count, I'm her son." He put the last of his clothing away closing the drawer on his old dresser.

Cloud rolled his eyes and pulled Sora into a hug. "Whatever makes you sleep at night babe." Sora leaned into the hug, he loved it when Cloud held him. "Are you going to go to the bonfire that Wakka was talking about tonight?"

"Probably, but only if you come with me." Sora said into Clouds chest. "Maybe Leon can come along too."

"You mean I'll finally get to see this elusive island of yours?" Cloud laughed, removing Sora from himself.

"What do you mean finally, no ones stopped you from going over there on your own."

"It's no fun on my own." Cloud leaned over to press a chaste kiss against Soras lips. "I want to go with you."

"Aww, aren't you sweet." Sora laughed.

A call from downstairs interrupted their conversation. "Sora! Roxas and Axel are here."

"Awesome! He brought Axel with him!" Sora clambered out of Clouds grasp and leapt down the stairs two at a time. Bringing Roxas and Axel into a big hug as soon as he saw them. "I didn't think you'd bring Axel along Roxas."

"I go with him everywhere." Axel explained, still trapped in Sora's enthusiastic hug. "We're attached at the hip."

"So are we still going to go to the mall or are we just going to stand here hugging all day." Roxas piped up, obviously uncomfortable in Soras vice like grip.

"Yeah I guess. Tidus and Wakka aren't coming along?"

"They were going to but apparently they got caught up in girlfriend things." Axel said with a grimace.

They made their way out of the house leaving Cloud behind. "Right Tidus is seeing Selphie now right? He sent me this huge letter about it. It was about ten pages or so all about Selphie." Sora laughed, thinking about his silly blonde friend.

"Wakka's seeing some girl from the mainland too." Roxas informed.

Axel started to laugh. "Wait until you meet her. A total goth chick, names lulu. They're complete opposites."

"She's really nice though. She really cares about him." Roxas said kicking a pebble on the sidewalk.

"So what about you two?" Sora asked eyeing his two friends.

"Oh so no ones told you yet." Axel said with a huge grin. Sora was able to deduce from Axels grin and Roxas's blush what would come out of Axels mouth. "We're officially a couple." He pulled Roxas close as if to prove the point.

Sora was laughing so hard he was having a hard time standing straight and actually had to stop walking all together.

"Oi what's so funny?!" Axel actually sounded a little offended.

"N-no it's not what you think." Sora managed between laughs. "It's just after all of Roxas's denying it in high school. Whatever happened to your other crush?"

Axel pulled away as if he had been burned. "Another crush?"

"I didn't." Roxas started. Which only made Soras laughter start anew. Roxas sighed. "I lied I didn't like anyone else... I just didn't want anyone to know."

Axel seemed relieved. "Good, I was thinking that you would have liked Namine or something." He pulled Sora up to a normal standing position and forced him to start walking again. "I have a better idea then the mall."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Axel why are we in a liquor store?" Sora asked looking at the aisles of wine.

"Because you can't have a real bonfire without booze." Axel stated as if it was a fact.

"Okay how about this Axel." Roxas interjected. "Why are we in a liquor store with a cart?"

True enough Axel was guiding a cart through the aisles. "Because my cute little blondie. There is going to be a lot of people at the bon fire, and while the three of us could carry a couple of 60's easily on our own a couple cases of beer might be more of a problem."

"Who's paying for this?" Sora asked as he watched Axel pile several cases of beer into the cart.

"We all are silly." Axel said as if they had already discussed this. He paused in placing another case into the cart. "Domestic should be fine right?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "If you're expecting us to help pay for this you can be sure that I'm not dishing out for imports."

"Right." Sora just agreed a little lost in the store.

"Psh, who cares we're going to have fun tonight." Axel laughed as he moved the cart along. Deciding that they had enough beer. "Hope you've planned some recovery time tomorrow morning Sora."

They ended up with a great deal more then Sora had expected, though Roxas informed him that this was pretty much the norm when it came to Axel. He used the expression "His eyes are bigger then his stomach." They had to wait outside the store for a ride since they were unable to walk with their purchases.

"Don't worry I've got a friend with a truck." Axel had said, as if that would reassure them.

Sure enough their ride had shown up, a spunky blonde in a beat up old pickup. Roxas seemed familiar with him so Sora had accepted a ride home.

It was a bumpy ride with several sharp turns and the stereo pumping Sora had never heard before, crude jokes and stories he couldn't follow. He was glad when he spotted his house.

"See you later tonight Sora." Roxas said just before the pickup had pulled away.

Sora stood on the front step slightly confused, they had gone from an innocent trip to the mall, to supplying the locals with booze at the bonfire. He wondered slightly when Roxas had learned to put up with such behaviour, that never would have happened back when they were in high school. Still now that he was back, there wasn't much to do other then wait for nightfall.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Nightfall came quickly and Cloud, Leon, and Sora made their way toward the fire burning brightly on the beach. Cloud marvelled at the sights and structures built along the beach.

"You guys didn't build this did you?" He asked.

"No but we had to maintain it, no one really knows who originally built it. Not even our parents." Sora explained.

"So even your parents don't know who built it?" Leon asked, he looked impressed at the multiple wooden tree houses.

"Nope they played on it when they were kids too. Kids play during the day, and at night is for folks like us. That was mostly the reason no one stuck around after sunset." Sora said as he waved at some old friends across the fire.

"I understand why you spent so much time here now." Cloud said a little awe struck.

"You don't have anything like this back home?" Sora asked, knowing that Cloud grew up in an area he called Midgar.

"No that place was a dump, why the hell do you think I moved out to the islands in the first place." Cloud laughed.

"I agree, though it's not like what I expected." Leon said.

Cloud nodded toward the makeshift bar, indicating that he wanted a drink. "Yeah where the hell are all the girls in grass skirts?"

Sora elbowed him in the side. "Trust me, no one ever wears those."

"Would you wear one for me?" Cloud joked.

"Depends on how much I drink tonight." Sora implied.

"I want out of this conversation now." Leon said as he quickened his pace to the bar, leaving with his drink before Cloud and Sora got there.

Sora was surprised to see that it was Axel and his blonde friend from earlier working the bar, made out of what looked to be driftwood. "Hey Sora!" Axel said with exuberance.

"What are you doing working the bar? I though you would rather be consuming." Sora questioned.

Axel held one finger to his lips indicating a secret and pulled a half-empty bottle of beer from behind the bar, which had his friend laughing. Axel ignored him. "So what do you want?"

"Give us the same as you have." Cloud ordered.

Axel handed them a bottle each and continued his conversation with Sora. "Besides if I'm working the bar then I know that my friends are all being well taken care of and don't drink themselves stupid."

"Kinda like your friend there." Cloud said, indicating the blonde who had seemed to have just laughed himself off his stool.

"Ah, don't mind him he just gets like that. Don't ya Dem?" Axel laughed along. "Just making sure he has a good night is all."

Sora rolled his eyes. "I'm going to keep an eye out for Roxas tonight."

"Why you wanna fuck him too?"

"Um, no thanks, I have my own boyfriend for that." Sora waved goodbye to Axel before he was able to go into more detail, or before Cloud would have the chance to wring his neck.

Cloud lead Sora toward the fire, where Leon was standing talking to someone who didn't look familiar to Sora. "Watch out for the redhead behind the bar." Cloud offered as a warning, then as if to defend his earlier statement. "He's a friend of Sora's."

"Yeah, he's interesting." Leon agreed.

Sora noticed Tidus waving him over, from not far away. "You guys hang out here; I'm going to go talk to some more of my interesting friends."

"Yeah, yeah, have fun." Cloud said, giving Sora a quick kiss on the cheek.

Tidus was standing with Wakka and a few other people he knew from high school. Tidus had a wide grin plastered to his face his arm securely fastened around Selphies waist. "Hey man." Wakka greeted standing next to Tidus.

"Long time no see." Sora joked, thinking about their lunch earlier.

Tidus started to laugh. "I missed you so much, I actually thought I was starting to turn gay for you." This earned him a slap to the back of the head, thanks to Selphie.

"You actually think you're good enough to date Sora?" she joked.

"Maybe not date... but if I suck up enough I might get a roll in the hay with him."

This time it was Sora who whapped Tidus. "You're not my type."

"Fine! Yeesh, a guy just wants to get laid." Tidus said, unable to keep a straight face.

"Hey, Sora you've got ta meet Lulu." Wakka chose this time to interject.

Indeed a tall girl dressed in a short black mini skirt had just walked up, and handed Wakka a drink. Sora was a little shocked when she had been described earlier he had not expected to see... well he hadn't expected to see that much. With the miniskirt and low cut top that she wore, she didn't leave much to the imagination; Sora would never have thought Wakka would end up with a girl like that.

"Sora, this is Lulu my girlfriend." Wakka said, introducing her.

She extended her hand and Sora shook it, choosing to introduce himself. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sora."

They carried out some small talk, Wakka explained how they met. Apparently, she went to the same school as Wakka she was taking engineering and was quite smart. She used a few words that confused Sora, Wakka had to translate for him. Though Sora was beginning to understand how they could be a couple, they were both sharp as tacks. They may not have been matched physically but mentally they were a perfect couple. Lulu was in the middle of telling a cute story about when Wakka gave her the necklace she was wearing when they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Oh my gawd! Selphie you'll never believe what I just found out." Kairi's voice rang out.

Sora winced, he was dreading meeting up with either Kairi or Riku. He hoped that she didn't know he was there, and chose to keep his back to her. Listening to the conversation, she was having with Selphie though it was evident that she had been drinking.

"Kairi are you okay?" Selphie asked.

"No, no Selphie listen to me." She paused to laugh, like she had just heard a funny joke. "I just found out why Riku broke up with me again."

Sora froze, he remembered hearing something about the two of them getting back together.

"Sora?" Lulu said, noticing that he was no longer paying attention.

He waved her silent focusing on Selphie and Kairi's conversation, with his back still turned.

Selphie let out a reluctant sigh. "Why? Why did he break up with you this time?"

Kairi laughed some more. "The same reason he did last time! Sora!" She braced herself up on her knees, still laughing. "When I see him I'm going to kick him in the balls!"

Sora could tell Selphie was a little put off by the hesitation in her voice. "Which one?"

"Both!"

Sora was really glad that he had his back to the drunken girl now, he saw amusement in Lulu's face as well. "Ex-girlfriend?" She asked.

"Not really. She was my best friends ex, or is I guess." Sora explained, keeping one ear out for mention of his name again.

"Complicated situation then?" Lulu guessed.

"Yeah you could say that." Sora smiled, glad that she wasn't asking for more details. She really was a smart girl.

Kairi's voice rang out as she became more detailed on how exactly she would go about kicking balls. "If I kicked out on a bit of an angel I would get the right one... no the left one first then it would ride up and get the second one and then-"

"Kairi!" Selphie yelled, interrupting the girls plans. "I'm taking you home."

"What?! I'm not ready to go home! I need to find Riku and Sora and teach them a lesson. In fact I bet if I were to start looking right now I could catch them fucking or something."

"Kairi... I'm not giving you the option. Tidus and I are taking you home." Sora chanced a glance over his shoulder in time to see Selphie grab Kairi by a thin arm and drag her along the beach, Tidus tagging along behind.

He breathed a sigh of relief knowing that his testicles were now safe, that and he was able to avoid a confrontation with Kairi. Even if that had been what had gotten him into trouble in the first place.

Lulu assured him he did nothing wrong before she left with Wakka to meet some more of his friends leaving Sora left to chat with other people he knew. He stood around the fire with Cloud, Leon, Roxas, and Axel who had left the bar to someone else. Sora stood sipping a beer with Clouds arm around him listening to a story Axel was telling, using very wide, very drunk hand gesticulations. Sora knew that despite the fact that he knew Riku was hanging around somewhere, and that Kairi was out for revenge that he was having a good time talking with his old friends. At the very dramatic ending of Axels story, involving sound effects and Roxas nearly loosing an eye due to Axels hands, Wakka and Lulu walked up. Sora watched them share a kiss, something sweet that showed that they really did like each other. Sora smiled, Cloud scoffed. "I can do better then that!"

"Remember Cloud there isn't any one here to arm wrestle." Leon interjected, obviously the one with the most experience with Cloud in his current state.

"Who needs to arm wrestle!" He took Soras drink from him and placed it along with his own on the ground at a safe distance.

"What are you doing Cloud?" Sora inquired. Curious to what his boyfriend was up to.

"This." He wrapped his arms around Sora leaned him back and took is lips into his own.

Sora was surprised but enjoyed the experience, he returned the kiss not at all self-conscious that his friends were there watching. He knew Leon was probably rolling his eyes; Axel was doubtlessly the one cheering them on. He relished the feeling of Clouds tongue against his own, and the sounds of his friends dramatically gagging. He smiled a bit and laughed into the kiss, feeling bubbles dance around in his head from the beer.

"Hey asshole! Anyone ever tell you that it's wrong to take advantage of someone who's intoxicated?!" A voice suddenly interrupted.

Sora felt Cloud's shoulders stiffen, he could see a livid looking Riku over Clouds shoulder. Cloud knew that it was Riku who had interrupted them, Sora could tell. Cloud just renewed the vigor of their kiss, actually grinding his hips into Soras. Sora gasped at the contact, Cloud took advantage of that and forced the kiss even deeper. Sora heard the sound of feet moving on sand, Riku running, closing the distance between them. Did Riku realise who Cloud was?

Obviously, Cloud was aware of Rikus plan, because just as Riku had just about reached them Cloud released Sora, turned and narrowly avoided being decked by Rikus fist. Instead, he grabbed Riku by the wrist and pulled him closer using his own momentum against him pulling him and Cloud sank his own fist into Rikus gut. Riku fell to the ground winded and with one arm above his head, still held by Cloud. Sora moved closer to make sure that his friend was okay but instead Cloud released Rikus wrist and grabbed Sora around the waist pulling him into another kiss. Sora heard Rikus rage, a frustrated growl before he lunged at Cloud from the ground. Cloud pushed Sora away from the danger and dodged another punch aimed for his head. The two still fighting began to edge closer and closer to the fire pit, and once Cloud face was exposed to the light from the flames. Sora heard Riku gasp in realisation then his rage boiled over again. "You!" He yelled out aiming for Cloud once again.

Sora hated this watching the two fight, he couldn't believe Riku was still like this after two years of separation. He had planned for the two of them, maybe the three if Kairi was there, to sit down and talk about everything that happened and what they should have done, what they shouldn't have done. But instead, Rikus jealousy had changed all that and had led him to fight with Cloud. Sora winced when he realised that Riku wasn't fairing very well either. Cloud had the advantage of size and experience, Riku was still petite compared to Clouds broad shoulders and height.

He couldn't stand every hit that was landed, whether it was Cloud or Riku receiving the blow. He watched Riku pull his arm back, aiming for Clouds temple, he didn't know what made him do it but Sora found himself running up and throwing himself in front of the fist. It contacted with his face, he heard the crack before he felt anything. He fell to the ground landing on his ass in the sand, back to the fire. He raised one hand to his face to examine his nose, it felt normal, and the pain was just beginning to spread intensified as he touched his face. When he pulled his hand away he could see blood coating his fingers, he was shocked. He wasn't aware of Cloud in front of him asking him if he was okay, he wasn't aware of the tears that had sprung up in the corners of Rikus eyes. Sora felt anger boil up from within him.

"Stop this!" He ignored Clouds concern and raised himself back onto his feet, feeling the blood run down his face. "I can't believe how childish you're being Riku! I can't believe that you are still so involved with your delusions that you think that just because I'll see you again that I'll fall into you're arms, or that you can be my prince charming and save me from danger. I am not a damsel in distress! I don't need to be saved particularly from my own boyfriend!" He turned on Cloud too, not letting Riku be the only one to be chastised. "And you! You shouldn't be fighting, you should know that there is no reason to return his blows. You already won!"

Everyone was very quiet as they watched Sora try to catch his breath, short from yelling. Sora was a little shocked himself, he never was the type to blow up and start yelling at people like that. No one moved and no one dared speak, in case they were to catch the tail end of Sora's anger. Leon was the first to dare a move. He moved in and placed one hand softly on Sora's shoulder to get his attention. "Let me take you home and clean you up."

Sora agreed, leaving everyone behind only wishing Wakka and Lulu goodbye.

xoxoxoxoxo

Leon took Sora to his flat rather then to his mothers. He said that he didn't want Ann to fret when she saw the blood on Soras face and clothes. Sora was surprised at the amount of blood that had flown out of his nose; he hadn't noticed how much had soaked his shirt until Leon had sat him down on the side of the tub and began to inspect the damage. It looked as if his nose wasn't broken, Leon said that it would probably be a little swollen for the next couple of days. Sora knew that it was very tender and he winced every time Leon touched it no matter how gentle he was.

Sora had called home and informed Ann that he would be staying with Leon. Since he had been "invited" to see his new apartment, he also informed Cloud who showed up shortly after.

Cloud informed him about the chaos that had ensued after Sora had stormed off. Apparently, Riku was so upset about it that he actually cried into Wakka's shirt. Sora didn't feel any pity for him though, Riku was broken and he was tired of trying to fix him. He just wanted to be understood that he was with Cloud and that he loved Cloud. As soon as the crisis was diverted and Leon had hung up the phone with Rinoa, who had called after hearing word of the bonfire (Sora and Cloud were both surprised at how fast the news was spreading) they wished each other goodnight. Leon went off to bed in his own room and Sora and Cloud retired into the guest room.

"See that wasn't so bad and you were worried about what was going to happen." Cloud laughed, hoping that it wasn't too early to be joking like he was.

Sora was good nurtured about it though. "Well at least you didn't break his leg or something like that."

"Hey you know what? There's an advantage to staying at Leons you know." Cloud said pulling Sora into bed with him.

"What's that?"

"Your Mom's not here."

"Oh, you have a point there." Sora laughed as he hugged Cloud under the covers.

Cloud shifted his weight so that he could lean over Sora, effectively trapping the brunette under him. "You're mine now."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sora woke up in Cloud's arms, happy, content, and warm. Cloud was already awake, he could tell because he could feel the older mans hands running through his hair. "G'morning Cloud."

"Morning." They laid there in bed, happy to be in each others arms on the islands again. "How can your hair be so soft and spiky at the same time?"

Cloud always marvelled at Sora's hair, seeing, as he always had to style his hair into a similar look. Sora would often sit in the washroom, as Cloud would be applying his many layers of product. Sora always teased him about it, but now was not the time, now he just wanted to lay there with his lover. "You're just jealous."

"Just a little." Cloud admitted it, he did wish his hair would spike as nicely as Soras. "Are we seriously laying here talking about hair?"

"Yup." Sora laughed a little. It did seem a little silly after their passions the night before.

"Well I guess I've got nothing else to talk about besides your cute ass." Cloud laughed, giving a squeeze.

Sora yelped a bit, pulling away from Cloud. "That's it I'm going to see if Leon wants help making breakfast." He scrambled out of bed not bothering to hide his nakedness from Cloud, pulled on the sweats that Leon had lent him the night before and left.

Leon was seated in the kitchen, sipping from a coffee mug. "Good morning!" Sora greeted happily.

"Maybe for you." Leon responded, adjusting the newspaper in front of him...

"Didn't sleep to well last night?" Sora asked helping himself to a cup of coffee.

"Too much noise."

"Oh." Sora knew exactly what Leon was talking about. "Sorry."

Leon shook his head. "I was kind of expecting it. Cloud tells me about that kind of stuff."

Sora laughed, picturing Leon and Cloud gossiping over the phone every day. He had sat through a few of their phone conversations before and knew that Cloud never said anything of the sort around Sora.

"So what happened to making breakfast?" A sleepy looking Cloud said as he shuffled into the room.

"Get off your lazy ass and make it then." Leon said still looking at his paper. "No one's stopping you."

Cloud stuck out his tongue. "Just as long as there's still coffee left I'm happy."

Sora sat on the chair and watched Cloud sit next to Leon and wrestle the comic section out of the paper, he couldn't help but smile. This was just like old times, a little different but still it brought back memories. He knew that no matter how bad things were he could always turn to Cloud and Leon, and even though Leon wasn't always around now seeing as how Cloud and Sora lived so far away, he was always a phone call away. Sora knew that even if the worst would happen and he and Cloud were to break up he could always turn to Leon.

Sora nodded into his coffee, he got it now. It didn't matter what happened in the past, it doesn't matter what Kairi or Riku thought of him. What mattered was that he was happy and with someone, he loved.

"You okay Sora?" Cloud asked, concern crossing his face.

He must have looked silly smiling into his coffee like that. He looked between his two friends warmth spreading through his limbs, he finally understood. The world will dump on you, fill your lap with shit. But you will make your way through it and come out stronger in the end. He wouldn't entertain silly ideas of rekindling old friendships that'll never be the same as they used to be. He would take what he had at the time and make the best of it.

After a long pause, he finally answered. "I'm fine, better then I've ever been."

-End

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Author Notes: It's been a crazy run everyone, I can't begin to express my gratitude for all the support I've gotten over the last two years. So big huge thanks everyone for 330 reviews, 34016 hits, 161 favs, and 151 alerts. You all mean the world to me.

But this may be the end for You Could be the Reason, but it won't be the end for my writing. I've still got that Final Fantasy 7 one for the Square-Enix fans, and another Kingdom Hearts is in the works. I'm also working on one with a friend on a different account. I'll post a link for it in my bio when we get it up. ...Shameless plugs I know...

Anyway, leave a review and let me know what you think. Express your woes if you must.


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